Nature Lover
by Bill K
Summary: Cere-Cere's new boyfriend has a unique secret, while Hotaru's new job may drive a wedge between her and the princess.
1. Falling Leaves

"NATURE LOVER"  
  
A Neo-Sailor Moon fanfic  
  
Chapter 1: "Falling Leaves"  
  
By Bill K.  
  
-------------------------------------------------  
  
Sailor Moon and all related characters are (c)2004 by Naoko Takeuchi/Kodansha and Toei  
  
Animation and are used without permission, but with respect. Story is (c)2004 by Bill K.   
  
"Rinbu Revolution" (c)1998 by its respective holders, words by Masami Okou, music by Toshiro  
  
Yabuki.  
  
As always, for those only familiar with the English dub:  
  
Usagi/Serenity=Serena  
  
Ami=Amy  
  
Rei=Raye  
  
Makoto=Lita  
  
Minako=Mina  
  
Haruka=Amara  
  
Michiru=Michelle  
  
Setsuna=Trista  
  
Mamoru/Endymion=Darien  
  
Chibi-Usa/Usa/Princess Usagi=Rini  
  
Finally, Haruka and Michiru are NOT cousins.  
  
--------------------------------------------------  
  
Hotaru paused in the doorway to listen. Usa was sitting at a piano, absently singing. As  
  
she sang, she tapped out a very simple, very basic approximation of the tune. She was just  
  
passing the time.  
  
"Isagiyoku kakkoyoku ikite-yukou," Usa gently sang, "just a long, long time."  
  
Hotaru adored listening to Usa sing. Whenever Usa sang, you could see her wondrous  
  
spirit flower until it engulfed the room. Her voice had a quality to it that made a person's heart  
  
flutter. It seemed to touch you in so many ways.  
  
"Tatoe futari hanarebanare ni natte mo," Usa continued, oblivious to the fact she had an  
  
audience, "let go of me - - take my revolution."  
  
"Rinbu Revolution?" Hotaru said, wandering over. "I didn't realize you were a fan?" Usa  
  
flushed slightly, more embarrassed at being snuck up on than being caught singing.   
  
"I didn't know you were," Usa smiled. "I caught a few episodes when I was in the  
  
twentieth century, then called up the rest from Dad's database. I'm a real fan of the director's  
  
work. I try to catch everything he did." She shrugged. "It gives you a headache trying to follow  
  
it sometimes, but it's got some real nice characters."  
  
"I think Anthy's my favorite," Hotaru said, sitting down on the bench next to Usa. "She's  
  
so beautiful and so misunderstood."  
  
"Yeah. I like Utena the best. I think it's because she has pink hair just like me." Usa hit  
  
a note on the piano at random. "So how are you and your parents doing? They seem settled in."  
  
"We're fine," Hotaru smiled to herself. "If I could just get Haruka-papa to stop terrorizing  
  
Yutaka, it'd be perfect. He's afraid to come over anymore!"  
  
Usa smiled knowingly. "Been there, done that. I think fathers have to take an oath or  
  
something to interfere in their daughters' love lives at every opportunity. Pop's just now  
  
beginning to accept I love Helios and he still wants to fit me for a chastity belt." She glanced  
  
over at her best friend. "So do you love him?"  
  
"Don't ask me that!" pleaded Hotaru. "Yutaka's very nice and I think about him a lot, but  
  
we're still finding out about each other. I think I could love him, but I don't know yet."  
  
"Don't rush," Usa smiled, touching Hotaru on the arm. "If it's meant to be, it'll happen."   
  
The princess scowled. "Gawd, I sound just like Dad!"  
  
Hotaru swung around on the bench so she faced the keyboard.  
  
"Your playing wasn't bad. Been at it long?" she asked.  
  
"I'm just barely competent," Usa replied. "You?"  
  
"A little. I was beginning to learn when the whole Silence thing came up. I'm not very  
  
good."  
  
"Play something!" Usa smiled.  
  
"I'm not very good!" Hotaru pleaded.  
  
"You always say that! Go ahead and play! I guarantee you can't be any worse than I am!"  
  
Usa stood up to give Hotaru room. Reluctantly the dark-tressed girl put her hands to the  
  
keys. After a few moments she began mechanically tapping out a tune. As the rhythm formed in  
  
the air, Usa began nodding her head to it.  
  
"I think I know this song," she smiled. Her mouth opened and the princess began singing  
  
along with the melody Hotaru was trying to capture. As they meshed, Hotaru began to relax  
  
behind the keyboard and listen to the music they were producing.  
  
Maybe she should start practicing it again, Hotaru thought.  
  
- - - -  
  
Cere-Cere wandered through Queen Serenity's garden, caressing the flowers and listening  
  
to their serenade. The Queen's garden was one of her most favorite places in the palace - - in the  
  
kingdom, perhaps, though the promenade in the summer when all the cute guys were circulating  
  
possibly just edged it out. She stopped to listen to a carnation's particularly sweet song and  
  
aroma. Nobody else could hear the flowers and the trees like she could, not even the Queen or  
  
Palla-Palla.   
  
She felt so sorry for them.  
  
Movement caught her attention. Cere-Cere looked up and spotted The Queen strolling in  
  
the garden as well. They'd occasionally meet because the garden was one of Queen Serenity's  
  
favorite places, too. Rather than go up to her, the girl hung back. Cere-Cere was always  
  
intimidated by The Queen, even though the woman seemed to bend over backwards to be  
  
friendly. It's just that she was the queen - - and not just the queen, but the legendary Queen  
  
Serenity and the even more legendary Sailor Moon before that. Her exploits filled an entire  
  
history crystal by themselves. How could you not be intimidated?  
  
Then another figure came into view. It was Haruka Tenoh, Hotaru's "father" and a  
  
legendary senshi in her own right. Serenity turned to the towering blonde and gave her a warm  
  
smile. Cere-Cere decided now was not the time to enjoy the garden.   
  
Still, for a moment her naughty side wondered if she was intruding on something the king  
  
shouldn't know about.   
  
Dismissing the thought, Cere-Cere moved on. There was a patch of trees on the far end  
  
of the palace, ancient trees descended from some of the very trees of old Juuban Park, where the  
  
palace now sat. She could go and commune with them. They were mostly friendly trees.  
  
And she just might spot that hunky gardener's assistant, too.  
  
"Haruka!" Serenity smiled warmly. "I didn't realize you liked gardens!"  
  
"I can take them or leave them," Haruka shrugged. "I just wanted to see what you were  
  
doing, Your Majesty."  
  
Serenity's eyes flared. "Don't you start," she said, wagging a finger at Haruka. Haruka  
  
grinned impishly. "I have WARNED you about that!"  
  
"Oh yeah, must have forgot," Haruka smirked, because she actually hadn't. "It's just that  
  
'Queen Dumpling' seems clunky."  
  
Serenity screwed her face up into a momentary pout. Then she softened.  
  
"Oh, you calling me 'dumpling' really takes me back," Serenity sighed. She glanced up at  
  
Haruka conspiratorially. "If you want to keep doing it, I won't mind. It makes me feel young  
  
again."  
  
"Yeah? You feeling your age?"  
  
"A little. Usa's such a handful anymore. To look at her grow makes me feel young, and  
  
at the same time she has an uncanny knack of making me feel ancient, too."  
  
"Makes me wish I'd seen her when she was smaller," Haruka replied. "Considering I've  
  
never seen her except when she was in the twentieth century - - sorry about missing her birth, but  
  
. . ."  
  
"You and Michiru had your own path to follow," Serenity smiled serenely. "I don't  
  
begrudge you. How are the two of you fitting in?"  
  
"Michiru helps me," Haruka shrugged, "I help her. And having Hotaru around really  
  
helps, too. I really missed that kid a lot."  
  
Haruka noticed Serenity was looking at her in a way that suddenly made her  
  
uncomfortable. The woman shifted.  
  
"Is something wrong?" Serenity asked, touching her hand to Haruka's. "You're my friend.   
  
I'm here to help."  
  
"It's nothing," Haruka shrugged.  
  
"Do you miss space already?"  
  
Haruka was startled for a moment, then remembered she was talking to Serenity.   
  
"No," Haruka replied forcefully. "Hotaru needs me here. And I need her. And Michiru  
  
really needs her. So space is out until - - until we don't need each other anymore." Haruka  
  
rubbed the back of her neck uncomfortably. "It's just - - nothing."  
  
"You're bored," Serenity smiled, throwing Haruka off balance again.   
  
"Well," Haruka smiled sheepishly, "what do folks do for fun around here? Do they still  
  
race air cars? It's been so long, I thought maybe they didn't do it anymore."  
  
"They don't," Serenity replied sadly. "In 2982, we discovered the stress of air car racing  
  
was distorting the magnetic lines of the planet. No air car is permitted above a speed of 20  
  
kmph. All high-speed travel is done through magno-wave intercontinental transports."  
  
"Twenty kmph?" gasped Haruka. "Might as well walk."  
  
"But," Serenity suggested, "humans still have a need to race. Track and field has been  
  
having a resurgence in public popularity in the last decade."  
  
"I'm a little old for track," Haruka smirked.  
  
"But you're still in good shape. I think you could compete. If you put enough work into  
  
it, I think you could be a champion again."  
  
"Get these old bones running again?" Haruka asked, tempted. Then she shook her head.   
  
"Nah, who am I kidding?"  
  
"Perhaps you're right," Serenity said. "The athletes of today are quite fast." As she spoke,  
  
she could see Haruka wavering. It was the reaction she was hoping for. "It would be quite a  
  
challenge for someone to beat them."  
  
Haruka licked her lips.  
  
"Yeah?" Haruka said absently.  
  
Serenity eyed her, trying to suppress her knowing smirk.  
  
"Maybe I should give it a try," Haruka mused. Unseen, Serenity smiled in triumph.   
  
"Show these kids a thing or two."  
  
"I think you're just the person to teach them," Serenity said.  
  
- - - -  
  
The gym was empty save for two. Ves-Ves, dressed in a tight-fitting cherry red body suit  
  
made of breathing polymer, edged to her right, her hands up in front of her and ready for  
  
anything. Her opponent mimicked her movements, but not her tense anticipation. Her opponent  
  
seemed calm and assured of her superiority, but not arrogant. Ves-Ves wished she could attain  
  
the same state.  
  
"Are you going to attack me or are we just going to dance all day?" Makoto smirked. She  
  
wore a green and white polymer body suit and the impressive figure it covered was just one more  
  
reason to make Ves-Ves feel inadequate. Brown hair dangled just above eyes that were serene,  
  
even slightly amused.  
  
"If you're bored, feel free to make the first move," Ves-Ves shot back, then quickly  
  
remembered herself, "Sensei."  
  
Makoto's eyes widened just for a second with glee.  
  
"All right," she said.   
  
Suddenly her fist lashed out. Ves-Ves evaded it, blocking it off with her forearms. But  
  
she didn't have time to gloat. Makoto countered with a flurry of left-hand counter punches.   
  
Ves-Ves slapped each one away with her right, while keeping Makoto's right at bay with her left.   
  
She was succeeding - - Makoto hadn't touched her - - but she was straining as hard as she could  
  
to maintain the pace. Makoto didn't seem like she was even breathing hard. Realizing she  
  
needed some distance - - immediately - - Ves-Ves released the right and struck, shoving Makoto  
  
away as she pushed back with her legs.  
  
Makoto stood, barely taxed, several feet away. Ves-Ves felt her heart pounding and her  
  
muscles ached from the adrenaline coursing through them.   
  
"Careful what you wish for," Makoto smirked.  
  
Then she launched a blur of a kick at the redhead. Ves-Ves blocked it, but the leg  
  
reloaded and launched with blinding speed and an economy of motion. Ves-Ves was unable to  
  
mount any kind of offense because she was too busy dodging a flurry of kicks. Makoto was  
  
actually keeping her at bay using only one leg. Ves-Ves would step back to try to gain some  
  
room to work, but Makoto would follow her, keeping the pressure on.  
  
Suddenly Makoto leaped up, lashed out with her right leg, then executed a midair  
  
pirouette and swung her left leg around toward the girl's head. Ves-Ves ducked, but lost her  
  
balance and tumbled onto her back. No sooner had she hit the floor than Makoto straddled her.   
  
The woman's fist stopped an inch from the young Amazon's jaw.  
  
"And you're out," Makoto smiled.  
  
She instantly got up off of Ves-Ves. The girl replied by gritting her teeth and pounding  
  
her fist into the mat.  
  
"Now don't be that way," Makoto said, offering a helping hand up. Ves-Ves took it  
  
reluctantly. "You gave a good account of yourself. I've just got a few inches, a few pounds and a  
  
few years on you."  
  
"The thing that's so frustrating," Ves-Ves admitted, "is that I can see every move you're  
  
making. It just comes at me so fast!" She huffed out a breath. "It was good to get back in class  
  
again, though. I've kind of missed it. Thanks for sparring with me."  
  
Makoto looked at the brief melancholy on the girl.  
  
"But you'd rather be sparring with Minako," Makoto judged. Ves-Ves shrugged. "Give  
  
her time. Minako does things only when Minako is ready - - but she usually does the right  
  
thing."  
  
"It is better than it was," Ves-Ves said. "Is it ever going to be the way it was before - -  
  
you know, before I went stupid?"  
  
Ves-Ves sat down on a chair. Makoto sat down next to her.   
  
"Probably not. No one's ever going to forget what you did, but the more you work, the  
  
more things will go back. It'll never be like it was before, but it can get to be ninety-five  
  
percent."  
  
"I thought we were making progress," Ves-Ves told her, "but she's still leery of me."  
  
"Ves-Ves," Makoto began seriously, "it's not you. There's something you have to know  
  
about Minako. A long time ago she was in love with a guy who betrayed her. He was kind of  
  
selfish and not always very honest. And she really loved him, so she'd keep giving him second  
  
chances - - but every time she thought she could finally trust him, he'd betray her again. So now  
  
if anyone betrays her trust, she's really leery about trusting them again. That make any sense?"  
  
"This guy must have been a real jerk," Ves-Ves said.  
  
"He had his moments," Makoto smiled. "But he had a lot of good qualities, too. I guess  
  
that's what made his bad qualities so much harder to take. Minako wouldn't have loved him for  
  
as long as she did if he didn't have a lot that was good about him."  
  
"Yeah," Ves-Ves nodded. "I can see why she's like that. If someone I loved kept  
  
betraying me, I'd have a hard time trusting people too." Makoto smiled at the irony of her young  
  
companion's statement.  
  
"Well, want to try me again?" Makoto asked.  
  
"Aw Hell no!" grinned Ves-Ves, "um, Sensei. I mean, the only way I could beat you is if  
  
I was as fast as you. How did you get to be so fast?"  
  
Makoto shrugged. "Part of it is genes and part of it is practice. And some of it is fluid  
  
motion. That's part of your problem - - you're too tense during a fight. You have to flow through  
  
a battle like a water current."   
  
"Yeah," sighed Ves-Ves.  
  
"Hey, I learned it and I'm not the brightest woman who ever lived. So can you."  
  
"How did you do it?"  
  
"You really want to know?"  
  
"Yeah!"  
  
Makoto smiled. "Ever been ice skating?"  
  
- - - -  
  
The trees softly sang to Cere-Cere as she nestled against the trunk of one. It was a mature  
  
melody and it made the girl feel so serene. Nothing bad could intrude upon this. She wouldn't  
  
allow it. Moments like this made the girl with the magenta hair long for a world that was  
  
covered with nothing more than lush green plants. The Earth would have no paving, no  
  
buildings, nothing but green and brown and the yellows and violets and reds of their flowers over  
  
all.  
  
Then the feeling was gone. Cere-Cere sat up and looked around. Something was  
  
intruding, some premonition that she was being watched, stared at by something or someone.   
  
The sensation was a huge damper on her mood. She got to her feet and tugged the hem of her  
  
very short skirt down. Another glance around her yielded nothing.  
  
"I guess I'm just being silly," she murmured. However, the mood was broken and the girl  
  
ambled back to the palace.  
  
"Hi, Cere-Cere," Rei said, greeting her in the corridor leading to the upper levels of the  
  
palace. Rei was wearing, rather than her priestess robes, a smart black business jacket, a red  
  
blouse and black skirt. Despite her age - - which was over a thousand - - the priestess still looked  
  
like a fashion model.   
  
"Oh, Sensei Hino-sama!" Cere-Cere cooed. "That outfit is just killer! I wish I could wear  
  
something like that!"  
  
"Well your outfit looks nice, too," Rei smiled back. "I've always been impressed with  
  
your fashion sense."  
  
"Thank you."  
  
"Communing with the trees again?" Rei asked. Cere-Cere looked puzzled. "You have a  
  
leaf on your back shoulder."  
  
Cere-Cere brushed it off. Mentioning the trees brought back her feeling again.  
  
"Um, Sensei," Cere-Cere began, "have you felt anything odd today?"  
  
"Odd?" Rei asked. "How so?"  
  
"I," Cere-Cere began. "Never mind."  
  
"What?"  
  
"Well," she began again, "it felt like somebody was watching me."  
  
Rei smiled. "I've got news for you, Cere-Cere. A lot of the boys in the palace watch  
  
you."  
  
"Oh, I know about them," Cere-Cere said dismissively. "This was - - different." She  
  
sighed. "Maybe I don't know what I'm talking about."  
  
Rei grasped her hand.   
  
"Maybe I'll have a look around," Rei told her.  
  
Cere-Cere wandered into her quarters. She found Palla-Palla on the floor, playing with  
  
her dolls. Though the girl was fifteen, she would never really mature beyond five or six.   
  
Palla-Palla felt her sister Amazon's presence and turned with a big, beaming smile.  
  
"Hi, Cere-Cere!" Palla-Palla said cheerfully. "Do you want to play dollies?"  
  
"Not right now," Cere-Cere grinned. "Where's everybody at?"  
  
"Ves-Ves is with Miss Makoto Ma'am. Jun-Jun is studying for school." She beamed at  
  
Cere-Cere again. "Palla-Palla is going to bake some cookies! You want to help?"  
  
"No, I'm going to watch a vid," Cere-Cere replied. Then she pointed a finger at  
  
Palla-Palla. "But if you're going to bake, concentrate on what you're doing!"  
  
"Palla-Palla only burned the cookies once!" the girl protested, her lip sticking out.  
  
"Twice," retorted Cere-Cere. "This month!" Palla-Palla replied with her tongue.   
  
"Concentrate."  
  
Cere-Cere walked off into her room to start up the vid-player. As she walked, brown eyes  
  
wafted toward the ceiling. When she disappeared into her room, they lingered for a moment,  
  
then passed through the opposite wall and out.  
  
Continued in Chapter 2 


	2. A Blossom's First Bud

"NATURE LOVER"  
  
A Neo-Sailor Moon fanfic  
  
Chapter 2: "A Blossom's First Bud"  
  
By Bill K.  
  
Six girls traveled down a palace corridor, headed for their classroom. As usual,  
  
Palla-Palla was in the lead and as usual she had a chipper smile on her face. The same could not  
  
be said for all the others.  
  
"Finally with us, Usa?" teased Hotaru.  
  
"Yeah," she sighed. "What'd I miss at breakfast?"  
  
"Just the usual gossip. Nothing important. I was more concerned with you falling asleep  
  
in your meal than anything."  
  
"Leave me alone," grunted Usa. "I hate mornings so much."  
  
"Somebody's grumpy," twittered Hotaru.  
  
"You know, as your princess, I could command you to shut up."  
  
"That's OK," smirked Hotaru. "I'd just make faces at you then."  
  
Ahead of them, Cere-Cere was still in the midst of the conversation she'd been having  
  
with Jun-Jun.  
  
"Please?" she begged.  
  
"I was not put on this Earth to do YOUR homework," Jun-Jun maintained.  
  
"But if I don't have it, then Sensei Mizuno-sama will totally flunk me!"  
  
"Which is the penalty for not doing your homework," Jun-Jun reminded her.  
  
"I can't believe you'd do this to your own sister!" Cere-Cere howled. "I thought we were  
  
supposed to look out for each other!"  
  
"I am looking out for you. I'm trying to protect you from a lifetime of utter stupidity."   
  
Cere-Cere glared.  
  
"You can copy Palla-Palla's homework," Palla-Palla offered.  
  
"Yeah, that'll really help me," Cere-Cere scowled. "You're still learning how to spell  
  
three syllable words."  
  
Palla-Palla stuck out her lower lip.  
  
"Leave her alone," was the low warning emanating from Ves-Ves.   
  
In the past, Cere-Cere might have barked out a retort and an argument would have  
  
erupted. But everyone knew Ves-Ves was trying to control her temper; as such, Cere-Cere just  
  
folded her arms over her chest and emitted a frustrated gust of air. The girls continued on until  
  
they reached their classroom. The door slid open and Ami Mizuno turned to them from the  
  
lectern - - or so it seemed.  
  
"Good morning, everyone," the holographic image of Ami said. "I regret that I'm unable  
  
to teach you in person again this morning."  
  
"Looks like we've got 'teacher-bot' again," mumbled Ves-Ves.  
  
"Good," grinned Cere-Cere. "That means she won't ask for homework."  
  
"Which means you can work on it tonight, right?" prodded Jun-Jun.  
  
"Yeah, right!" chuckled Cere-Cere.  
  
"Unfortunately, my other duties are pressing in on me and I can't spare the time for you  
  
today," the Ami hologram continued. "I'm terribly sorry for this. Please don't be insulted. I'll do  
  
my very best to be here for our next session."  
  
"I think Ami-san's over-extending herself again," Usa whispered to Hotaru.  
  
"She does that a lot, doesn't she," Hotaru nodded. "Maybe I'll stop by after class and try  
  
to help her out."  
  
"Sure you can be away from 'Yutaka' that long?" Usa needled.  
  
"Tell me you're not missing Helios," Hotaru shot back. "If you can do it, I can do it."   
  
Then she got a wicked grin. "After all, I'm a much stronger person than you are."  
  
"Not to mention modest," Usa jabbed back.  
  
"Please engage your tutorial computers, students," the hologram announced. "Your  
  
individual assignments will come up." She scanned the room for a moment. "Palla-Palla, please  
  
put away the coloring program and engage your tutorial computer."  
  
"Yes, ma'am," Palla-Palla said glumly.  
  
- - - -  
  
When "teacher-bot" finally dismissed them, Hotaru gathered up her notes and her  
  
personal computer link. She looked for Usa to wave good-bye, but the pink-tressed princess was  
  
already next to her.  
  
"Got any plans?" Usa asked. "I thought we could study together."  
  
"That would be nice for tonight," Hotaru smiled. "Right now I was going to head over to  
  
Mizuno-san's."  
  
"You were serious about helping her out," Usa smiled.   
  
"Yeah. I'll help her any way I can." Hotaru flushed. "Besides, being around her you can't  
  
help but learn things. She's so smart."  
  
"Got that right," Usa nodded. "OK if I tag along?"  
  
"I don't mind. You don't have anything else to do?"  
  
"I'm the princess. All I have to do is stand around when Mom and Dad entertain and look  
  
adorable."  
  
"Must be tough," Hotaru twittered.   
  
"You have no idea. If I can help out Ami-san, that's way more important than shopping  
  
or holo-games."  
  
Just then Palla-Palla ran up to them.  
  
"Please don't forget about ESP class, Miss Hotaru Ma'am!" she said expectantly.   
  
"Palla-Palla would miss you very much if you weren't there!"  
  
"1630 hours," Hotaru nodded. "I'll be there." Palla-Palla beamed happily, then scurried  
  
off to join Ves-Ves.  
  
"So how are you doing in class?" Usa asked as the two ambled down the corridor. "Able  
  
to lift anything heavier than a ruler yet?"  
  
"I'm up to ten gram weights now," Hotaru replied modestly. "It's no big deal. Sensei says  
  
it's like lifting weights with your hands: the more work you put in, the more weight you can lift."  
  
"I want to be there when you levitate Sensei," Usa grinned.  
  
"I don't seem to be doing very well in controlling my mind bolts, though," Hotaru  
  
confessed. "They only seem to come when I don't want them to come - - or like now, they're  
  
starting to go in the wrong direction. I tried to throw one yesterday and I hit poor Asuma. He  
  
was sitting behind me, just minding his own business!"  
  
"Is he all right?"  
  
"Yes. No thanks to me."  
  
Usa put her arm on Hotaru's shoulder.   
  
"You'll get it," Usa told her. "You can do anything you want if you just keep trying."  
  
The pair stopped at the door to Ami's office and waited for the computerized door  
  
controls to recognize them. The door opened, indicating Ami wasn't in a private conference.   
  
Inside, they found Ami sitting in a chair, surrounded by holographic reports on all sides of her, as  
  
well as two holographic vital sign readouts. On the right, Michiru was undergoing painful  
  
electric stimulus of her leg muscles as she worked them lifting weights on a cybernetically  
  
enhanced table. The woman was grimacing in pain, but didn't cry out. On the left was another  
  
patient - - Usa recognized her as one of the cooks from the dining hall - - who was four months  
  
pregnant and undergoing a medical scan.  
  
"Give me a moment, girls, please," Ami said absently, trying to divide her attention  
  
between two reports and the vital sign monitors for both her patients.  
  
"Michiru-Mama, are you all right?" Hotaru asked.  
  
"Just," Michiru hissed between clenched teeth, "trying to get my legs to work right again.   
  
Don't be scared - - nnngh - - if I make faces at you."  
  
"It's a painful process, Hotaru," Ami mumbled, continuing to multi-task. "But the benefit  
  
will outweigh the discomfort." Ami's face suddenly screwed up. "Oh, drat it! That wasn't what I  
  
wanted to indicate! Now I'll have to begin this report again."  
  
"Mizuno-san?" Hotaru ventured. "You seem awful busy. Is there anything I can do to  
  
help?"  
  
Ami looked up from her myriad reports, surprised by what Hotaru asked.  
  
"Yeah, this is the third class out of the last five you've missed," Usa added. "And you  
  
look like you're trying to do fifteen things at once."  
  
"Actually it's only eight," Ami offered lamely.  
  
"Pardon me for saying so, but I think you're trying to do too many things," Hotaru said.  
  
"Yeah, when was the last time you had a nice quiet evening with Makoto-san anyway?"  
  
Usa added.  
  
"Um, Tuesday," Ami replied with chagrin, "last week."  
  
"Classic workaholic syndrome," clucked Michiru.  
  
"Don't waste your energy with useless talk, please," Ami reprimanded. "Girls, I'm sorry  
  
about missing class, but I have a great deal of responsibility."  
  
"We're not worried about class," Usa argued. "We're worried about you."  
  
"We want to help out," Hotaru told her. "Please let us. Even if it's only menial tasks like  
  
filing and downloading, if you don't have to do it, it'll give you more time for important things."  
  
"Or a few minutes to catch your breath," Usa added.  
  
Ami sighed in frustration. "It's very kind of you to offer, but I don't want to take you  
  
away from your lives."  
  
"Ami-san, I'm already wasting half my life now," Usa countered. "A princess doesn't do  
  
anything!"  
  
"And I'd really learn a lot just watching you work," Hotaru pleaded. "Please, Mizuno-san,  
  
let us help you!"  
  
"Working yourself down to nothing isn't proof of how smart you are," Michiru added.  
  
"Go ahead and let them help you, Mizuno-sensei," the pregnant woman added.  
  
Ami scowled.   
  
"Well, if you're all going to gang up on me," she huffed, then broke into a smile, "I guess  
  
I'll have to agree."  
  
"Thank you, Mizuno-san," Hotaru beamed.  
  
"But let's get one thing straight," Ami said sternly. "If you're going to work here, I'm  
  
Ami."  
  
Hotaru beamed broadly.  
  
- - - -  
  
The room was Endymion's inner computer and monitor room, a complex warren of visual  
  
monitors receiving signals from robot observation drones and cameras that blanketed Crystal  
  
Tokyo, and the computers that stored these recordings and provided access to them. He sat there  
  
as he often sat there, away from everyone, watching over the city like a lone sentinel. Different  
  
images flickered on screens, seen only peripherally by the king. He sat, index fingered steepled  
  
to his mouth and his thick black hair tossed across his forehead just above his eyes. His pastel  
  
gray jacket was off, strewn across a far table, but the rest of his tuxedo uniform was intact.   
  
One image on his bank of screens caught his attention. Ves-Ves had entered the corridor  
  
from her classroom, followed closely by Palla-Palla. As the girl passed from one camera to  
  
another, Endymion would adjust his readouts, keeping her movements before him at all times.   
  
He continued to follow her until she disappeared into her residence quarters in the palace. Only  
  
then did the king relax.  
  
"Endymion," he heard Serenity sigh behind him. Casually he turned his chair to her.   
  
"How long do you intend to monitor that girl's every movement?"  
  
"Until I'm convinced she's not a threat," he replied, gently but firmly.  
  
"Endymion, she's sorry she attacked Usa."  
  
"Remorse is a good first step," Endymion replied, "but it's not a journey's end."  
  
"She was under duress," Serenity pleaded with him. "She reacted without thinking."  
  
"We've been over this and over this. She has special abilities. She can't react without  
  
thinking. It's too dangerous."  
  
Serenity knelt at his feet. "Endymion, she's fifteen. Surely you remember how you were  
  
at fifteen?"  
  
"I didn't lose control at fifteen."  
  
"No, you were so completely in control you were liable to break from the strain," Serenity  
  
teased. "At least that's how you were at eighteen. I can only imagine what you were like at  
  
fifteen." She perched her chin on his knee. "Teenagers think with their hearts. They don't  
  
always mean what they do. You can't just judge their actions. You have to look into their hearts,  
  
too."  
  
"Serenity, she tried to kill our daughter."  
  
"I know. And our daughter once tried to kill me. And you once tried to kill me. But Usa  
  
was brainwashed into being Black Lady. And you were under Beryl's control when you attacked  
  
me. Ves-Ves was under another's control, too. She was under the control of her own fear and  
  
the anger it inspires in her. She's not a bad person, Endymion. We have to look into her heart  
  
and forgive her or she'll never become all that she can become."  
  
Endymion caressed his wife's cheek.  
  
"I do forgive her, because I realize she didn't mean it," Endymion replied. "I know she  
  
thought she was attacking Echidna. I forgive her. I just can't trust her yet."  
  
"Trust is a product of forgiveness," Serenity told him. "If you don't have it, you haven't  
  
really forgiven her."   
  
"Serenity," he sighed. "It's so easy for you, easier than any of the rest of us. You believe  
  
so readily in the inner goodness of people. I want to do that, too. But I keep seeing our child  
  
facing those ravenous jaws and my first instinct is to protect her, not to forgive her attacker. It's  
  
the same way I feel whenever you're in danger or, to a lesser extent, this city. Perhaps I should be  
  
more forgiving, more understanding. But if I do relax my guard for even an instant, and it results  
  
in my losing you or little Usagi or both of you, I couldn't forgive myself. You and Usagi are the  
  
most important things in my life. And if protecting you means hurting someone like Ves-Ves,  
  
well I'm sorry but it can't be helped. I will not ignore a threat to either of you - - no matter what."  
  
Serenity caressed his calf as she held his legs.   
  
"Poor Endymion," she whispered. "I've been so concerned with Ves-Ves and Usa that I  
  
haven't considered your side. I don't mean to slight your feelings. I do appreciate how much you  
  
love me and love our daughter. Being the guardian isn't easy, is it?"  
  
"It has its benefits," Endymion said, stroking his wife's golden hair. "I want to believe  
  
Ves-Ves can turn herself around. But she has to show me."  
  
"She will," Serenity replied, her head resting on Endymion's knee. Endymion continued  
  
to stroke her hair.  
  
- - - -  
  
She should be doing her homework. Cere-Cere, though, just couldn't muster the  
  
discipline to do so. It was too nice a day and the garden was blooming. Though Spring was the  
  
hardest time to concentrate on anything and always had been, late summer was almost as bad.   
  
The heat of the summer couldn't completely beat down the scents the flora excreted.. The scents  
  
and songs of the flora were just too strong. Cere-Cere crouched down and softly caressed a patch  
  
of violets. They sang out to her in appreciation, filling her with their celebration of her presence  
  
and her attention. The sun was high in the sky and filled the garden with light and warmth. The  
  
girl rose to her feet and stretched up toward the sun, just as the flowers did. Her bared midriff's  
  
creamy skin seemed to gleam in the sunlight and she threatened to burst from the synthetic  
  
short-sleeve top she wore.  
  
"I don't want to do my homework," she pouted to herself. "But Jun-Jun will probably  
  
have a stroke if I don't. I wish she'd find a guy so she'd get off my back."  
  
Cere-Cere turned - - and found someone behind her. Startled, she backed up a pace, but  
  
the stranger placidly stood his ground.  
  
"Hello," he smiled.  
  
He was a slim, wiry male, looking about her age. His build was long and sleek with  
  
smooth pale skin draped over his still maturing body. Thick brown hair adorned his head,  
  
combed to the side almost audaciously. He had penetrating brown eyes and a pretty rather than  
  
handsome mouth cocked in a smile. His was a face that was a collage of soft emerging  
  
masculinity and boyish playfulness. It was a look that might make some think he was a threat - -  
  
and others imagine he could be very exciting.  
  
The only unusual thing about him to the casual observer was his complete nakedness.  
  
"How long have you been there?" Cere-Cere asked when she found her voice.  
  
"In this spot? Only a few moments," he replied easily. "I'm Gallan."  
  
"Um, Cere-Cere," she replied, sensing his lack of ill intentions.   
  
"That's a beautiful name," he smiled, clearly enchanted by her. "It suits you."  
  
"Do you live near the palace?" Cere-Cere inquired.  
  
"Yes," Gallan nodded, pleased she was willing to talk to him. "I've noticed you in the  
  
gardens and the groves. I really think you're very beautiful and you're so kind to the flowers. I-I  
  
kind of wanted to meet you."  
  
"You did?" Cere-Cere smiled. The girl felt suddenly flattered by the attention.  
  
Ves-Ves walked through the garden intent upon her mission. The study session Jun-Jun  
  
had set up for the three of them - - timed for when their sister was in ESP class so Palla-Palla  
  
wouldn't incessantly bother them with her need for constant attention - - had arrived and  
  
Cere-Cere was late. Ves-Ves had been dispatched to this side of the palace to find her.  
  
The beautiful flowers meant nothing to Ves-Ves. Flowers were irrelevant in her life. She  
  
couldn't understand why Cere-Cere had such a passion for them. Animals, on the other hand,  
  
were fascinating. They were going to get into zoology next semester and Ves-Ves couldn't wait.   
  
That was worth studying, not a bunch of flowers. But you couldn't tell that to prissy little  
  
Cere-Cere.  
  
Honestly, she loved her sister, but the girl could be such an airhead about what was  
  
important in life.  
  
Pushing between two sunflowers that were six and a half feet in the air, their faces burst  
  
full and their seeds ripening, Ves-Ves spotted Cere-Cere. She was about to go charging over and  
  
scold the girl, dragging her back to the palace by her rings of hair if need be. But she stopped  
  
when she realized what Cere-Cere was doing. The entire scene seemed unusual to Ves-Ves.   
  
What had she stumbled onto? Fascinated by what transpired, Ves-Ves stood between the  
  
sunflowers and watched her sister for the longest time. Cere-Cere seemed happily chatting away,  
  
her arms coyly behind her back and her posture curved to be seductive without being forward.   
  
She chatted gaily, giggling intermittently.   
  
"Is she crazy?" Ves-Ves wondered.   
  
Finally she shook off her surprise and headed for her sister. Cere-Cere was oblivious to  
  
her approach until Ves-Ves reached her and grasped the girl by the shoulder. Cere-Cere turned  
  
with a start.  
  
"What are you doing?" Ves-Ves demanded rudely to the only person she saw. "Talking to  
  
yourself?"  
  
Cere-Cere glanced to her right momentarily.  
  
"What if I am?" Cere-Cere replied defensively. "What business is it of yours?"  
  
"What are you, nuts?" Ves-Ves asked. Cere-Cere ground her teeth.  
  
"Oh, you're the LAST person who should be casting aspersions like that!" Cere-Cere  
  
huffed and stalked off.  
  
Ves-Ves looked around, just in case there was a mouse or something she hadn't seen - -  
  
hey, if Palla-Palla could talk to rodents, why not Cere-Cere? But there was nothing there save a  
  
patch of violets and some trees further down the path. Utterly confused, Ves-Ves shook her head  
  
and stormed back to the palace.  
  
Continued in Chapter 3 


	3. Flora And Fauna

"NATURE LOVER"  
A Neo-Sailor Moon fanfic Chapter 3: "Flora and Fauna"  
  
By Bill K.  
  
Ves-Ves and Palla-Palla were sitting in the central room that connected the four sisters' bedrooms. Ves-Ves was at a computer terminal, valiantly trying to research a history paper for Sensei Aino-sama and growing more frustrated by the moment. Palla-Palla was at another terminal, putting together a video jigsaw puzzle. Jun-Jun entered. While Ves-Ves barely acknowledged her sister, Palla-Palla gave the girl a huge grin and waved.  
  
"Jun-Jun, come see Palla-Palla's puzzle!" Palla-Palla begged. Her insistent manner brought Jun-Jun over - - the girl knew that her sister would keep insisting until Jun-Jun complied.  
  
"It's very nice, Palla-Palla," Jun-Jun said patiently.  
  
"Palla-Palla thinks the picture is going to be a pretty waterfall," the girl announced.  
  
"I think you're right," Jun-Jun said. Shifting subjects quickly, Jun-Jun asked everyone, "Has anyone noticed Cere-Cere acting weird the last few weeks?"  
  
"You're going to have to be more specific," Ves-Ves grunted, scowling at the computer screen. "Cere-Cere's always acting weird."  
  
"Well," Jun-Jun began, "She seems - - preoccupied. She's always humming or daydreaming anymore. Remember a couple of days ago when Sensei Hino-sama caught her daydreaming in class?"  
  
"Yeah," snickered Ves-Ves.  
  
"Cere-Cere looked like she wet her panties," giggled Palla-Palla. "It was real funny."  
  
"Yeah, it was a riot," muttered Jun-Jun acidly. "But she's spacing out like that a lot lately. And she's always spending her time in the garden now."  
  
"So?" Ves-Ves asked. "You know what a freak she is for flowers. She probably sits down there and talks to them."  
  
"Well, have you noticed how happy she is? It's like nothing phases her anymore."  
  
"You want to know what Palla-Palla thinks?" Palla-Palla asked.  
  
"Could we stop you?" Ves-Ves muttered.  
  
"Palla-Palla thinks Cere-Cere has a boyfriend."  
  
Jun-Jun descended on her sister while Ves-Ves whirled around to face her.  
  
"How do you know that?" Jun-Jun inquired. "Have you seen him?"  
  
"No," Palla-Palla replied innocently.  
  
"Are you tuning into her thoughts?" Ves-Ves demanded.  
  
"No! Sensei says Palla-Palla is getting very good at concentrating!"  
  
"Then how do you know, Palla-Palla?" Jun-Jun asked.  
  
The girl shrugged helplessly. "Palla-Palla doesn't know how she knows. She just does."  
  
Ves-Ves and Jun-Jun turned to each other inquiringly.  
  
"Maybe she can sense moods now," Jun-Jun shrugged. "The queen can do it."  
  
"Well, there's one way to find out," Ves-Ves announced. She got to her feet and marched straight into Cere-Cere's bedroom.  
  
"Ves, what are you doing?" Jun-Jun demanded, following her in. She and Palla-Palla found Ves-Ves fishing under the mattress of their sister's bed. She came out with an electronic device in her hand. "Ves, that's an audio storage log!"  
  
"Not quite," Ves-Ves said, sitting on the bed. "It's Cere-Cere's audio storage log. Let's try last week. Access audio files for 3 October, 2995."  
  
The device beeped.  
  
"School was boring as ever," they heard Cere-Cere's voice narrate. "Sensei Hino-sama reprimanded me today. It was SO embarrassing. Sensei Hino-sama may be the absolute coolest person on the face of the Earth, but I wish she wasn't so strict. The only thing that kept it from being totally humiliating was she nailed Ves-Ves, too."  
  
Ves-Ves scowled, while her sisters smirked.  
  
"But all I had to do was go out into the garden and it suddenly didn't matter. Gallan was there again. He's been there every day this month, waiting for me, like he can't live without me. And - - and I'm beginning to think I can't live without him. He's so nice. I just feel so good when I'm around him. We connect in so many ways. I think maybe I - - no! I better not say it yet. Not even to you, diary. I'm afraid I'll jinx it. But Gallan's become - - very important to me."  
  
"WHAT DO YOU THINK YOU'RE DOING?" screeched the real Cere-Cere. The three girls whirled around and found her standing, fuming mad, in the doorway of the room. In the flash of an eye she was across the room and snatched the audio storage log out of Ves-Ves's hand. "You were listening to my DIARY?"  
  
"Well, yeah," Ves-Ves replied incredulously.  
  
"You . . .!" fumed Cere-Cere. "Now I wish the king HAD thrown you out!" She whirled on the other two. "And you two! I expect that from her! But you!"  
  
"Please don't be angry!" whimpered Palla-Palla. "Palla-Palla's ever so sorry!"  
  
"Yeah, we were just," Jun-Jun began, "um, trying to, um, stop, um, Ves-Ves. Boy, was that as lame as it sounded?"  
  
"GET OUT! JUST GET OUT!" Cere-Cere bellowed tearfully.  
  
"Nah, the Hell with all that!" Ves-Ves volleyed back. "Who's Gallan?"  
  
"Never mind who Gallan is!" spat Cere-Cere. "He's someone who's worth twenty of YOU! A hundred of you!"  
  
"Look, Cere," Jun-Jun offered, interjecting herself between her feuding sisters, "we're just curious. We've noticed you've been acting strange lately. We're just wondering about you. You know, that whole 'sisters stick together and worry about each other' thing?"  
  
Cere-Cere didn't answer, save to sniff back bitter tears.  
  
"And we were just wondering if you really did have a boyfriend, like it seems - - and if he was nice? And why you hadn't told us?"  
  
"Yeah, were you afraid I'd steal him or something?" Ves-Ves added.  
  
Cere-Cere gave her sister the cold shoulder.  
  
"Cere, the secret's out," Jun-Jun said. "Sorry about how we found out, but we found out. From what we heard, he sounds like a nice guy. Does he live in the palace?"  
  
"No," Cere-Cere whispered. "But he lives close by."  
  
"Is he kind and gentle?" Palla-Palla asked.  
  
A smile grew on Cere-Cere's pretty face. "Yes. He's got such a gentle spirit."  
  
"Is he cute?" Ves-Ves asked hesitantly.  
  
"Uh huh. He's like an adorable little boy and a big strong handsome man all rolled into one."  
  
"Where'd you meet him?" Jun-Jun asked.  
  
"In the garden. We meet there all the time. It's sort of become our 'special place'."  
  
"Are you in love with him?" ventured Palla-Palla.  
  
Cere-Cere bit her lip. "I don't know. Maybe. I could be. I don't know."  
  
"Is he in love with you?" Ves-Ves posed.  
  
"I think so."  
  
"It sounds wonderful, Cere," Jun-Jun told her. "I don't understand why you don't want us to meet him."  
  
Cere-Cere's featured clouded over. "It's not that. You can't. You just can't."  
  
"Why not?" demanded Ves-Ves.  
  
"YOU JUST CAN'T!" she wailed and fled the room. Her sisters watched her departure helplessly.  
  
"Jun-Jun, why is Cere-Cere so sad?" sniffed Palla-Palla.  
  
"I don't know, Palla-Palla," the green-haired girl replied.  
  
"So let's find out," Ves-Ves demanded.  
  
"No, let's butt out," Jun-Jun countered.  
  
"What if he's using her?" Ves-Ves fumed. "What if he wants her to stay away from us so we don't figure out what he's doing?"  
  
"What if he's got something about him and he's afraid we'll judge him harshly?" Jun-Jun countered. "Cere-Cere wants us to butt out. I think we owe that to her. She'll let us meet him when she's ready."  
  
"This is nuts," snarled Ves-Ves. She turned on her heel and stalked out of the room. They heard the outer door hiss open and closed.  
  
"Cere-Cere's going to be all right, isn't she?" Palla-Palla asked with child-like desperation.  
  
"I hope so," Jun-Jun responded. "We just have to let her be."  
- - - -  
The door to the Princess Usagi's quarters opened and Diana padded through. The gray feline made sure to rub her back hip against the door as she passed. For some reason, feeling the edge of the door frame against her made her skin tingle in just the right way and she worked too hard in the palace to pass up any opportunity to feel good.  
  
The door controls had long since been instructed to allow her entry without inquiry. It was a privilege only afforded to the king and queen besides her - - and that wasn't by Usa's choice. If it were up to her, they'd be locked out, too. Diana heard the door close behind her, yawned, then looked around to see if Usa was around.  
  
"No doubt galavanting around with her friends," Diana thought to herself, failing to notice how much of an uncanny impression of her mother, Luna, she was doing. "If she's studying at all, it's only because Hotaru's here."  
  
The cat made her way to the bedroom. To her surprise, there was Usa, sitting on her bed with her personal computer station propped up on her lap. She seemed to be studying - - by herself - - until Diana looked closer. She hopped up on the bed, drawing Usa's attention.  
  
"You hardly seem to be concentrating, My Lady," Diana said. "Does something trouble you or is the subject that boring?"  
  
"Hi, Diana," Usa smiled, holding out a hand. Diana crossed over and let Usa stroke along her back. "Hard day?"  
  
"Monitoring the Door of Time is never easy," Diana told her. "But I accepted it and it's my lot to bear. I appreciate your interest, My Lady, but that hardly answers my original question."  
  
Usa sighed.  
  
"My Lady?" Diana inquired. "What is it? You know you can tell me anything."  
  
"Yeah?" Usa asked, giving her a half-hearted smile. "You have fish breath."  
  
"Anything but that," Diana replied patiently. "Come, My Lady, we've been through so much over the years. Give your old sounding board another go?"  
  
Usa's hand absently draped on the cat's neck and lightly scratched. Diana arched in appreciation.  
  
"Perhaps you might have more luck studying if Hotaru were with you," Diana suggested. "Is she out on a date with her young man?"  
  
"No," Usa said glumly. "We were supposed to meet to study an hour ago. The computer says she's still helping Ami-san." Diana looked on sympathetically. "It makes sense. Hotaru wants to be a doctor when she's grown up and what better way to get started than working for Ami-san? She can learn so much just being in the same room with her - - a lot more than she can learn with me. And I've seen how excited she gets when she talks about it - - the times I still see her anymore."  
  
"I see," Diana nodded. "You miss her."  
  
"I know I shouldn't feel this way, Diana. I'm just being selfish. Working with Ami-san is good for Hotaru and I should be happy for her."  
  
"My Lady, it's perfectly all right to miss a friend," Diana counseled. "And you two did have an agreement and she did stand you up."  
  
"She's just doing what she likes," Usa whispered.  
  
"Which in no way should be construed that she no longer likes being with you," Diana cautioned, but Usa wasn't listening. "Well, if you're lonely perhaps you could study with your senshi. They're your friends now, too."  
  
"I'm," Usa began, "not sure Ves-Ves would be comfortable with me there."  
  
"Perhaps she would. Have you asked her?"  
  
Usa responded with a silent expression of teenage mortification. She knew Usa didn't want to come right out and admit what she was feeling, though.  
  
"Very well. You know them best." Diana turned around and curled up against Usa's hip. "Well I've nothing pressing. I'll study with you. What subject is it this time, eh?"  
  
The pink-tressed teen smiled wistfully.  
  
"Just like old times, huh Diana?" she asked, stroking the cat again. "Well, tonight's subject is algebra."  
  
"Oh dear," Diana replied. "I can see why your mind was wandering. No matter; put your leg down so I can see your display and we'll press on as best we can. Between the two of us, we can lick anything."  
  
"Right, Diana," Usa smiled warmly.  
- - - -  
The small grove of trees behind the palace was a familiar safe haven for Cere-Cere by now, even before she'd met Gallan. The peacefulness of the trees, their shade, their strength and experience made her feel safe and secure. Sometimes she just had to seek them out, for even her sisters could hurt her despite their closeness. Since this was now "their spot" - - hers and Gallan's - - it would naturally be the first place she'd flee to.  
  
Cere-Cere leaned against an ancient oak and wiped the tears from her eyes with her finger. They were only concerned about her. They hadn't meant to hurt her - - well except for Ves-Ves and that was because SHE didn't care - - but she couldn't tell them the truth. They wouldn't understand.  
  
No one would. Maybe not even the queen.  
  
A gentle hand closed on her shoulder and instantly she knew it was Gallan. Cere-Cere turned around and found him standing there, smiling placidly, as if the very sight of her had made his entire day. The girl fell into his arms and pressed her face against his slim, hard, bare chest. She could feel herself tearing up again.  
  
"Cere, my goddess," he whispered, cradling her as she crumpled against him. "What troubles you?"  
  
"The others," she whimpered, grateful for his touch, a touch she realized just recently that she longed for and missed. "They found out, Gallan - - about us! Jun-Jun and Ves-Ves and Palla-Palla - - they listened to my diary. They know about you."  
  
His hand caressed her light scarlet hair.  
  
"And why are you so afraid of this?" he asked. "From what you've told me, your sisters seem kind - - even the one you protest so much about. We have nothing to fear from them. They only have your best interests in mind. I doubt they'd hurt you."  
  
"You don't understand," Cere-Cere protested.  
  
"So they know?" Gallan persisted. "I love you, Cere-Cere. That's all that matters. I would have the world know. I would tell the universe if I could!" He turned and tilted his head to the sky. "Hear me, one and all! I am in love with this girl and that makes me the luckiest being in the universe!"  
  
"Gallan, it's not that simple!" Cere-Cere sobbed. "We're from different worlds. People aren't just going to accept us because we want them to."  
  
"Do you love me?" Gallan asked. Cere-Cere looked up at him and saw the youth was expecting not just an answer, but a particular answer.  
  
"Please don't ask me that," she whimpered, looking down.  
  
"Oh." Cere-Cere swallowed and looked back up at him. The disappointment in his beautiful, boyish face tore at her heart. "Forgive me. I've made assumptions - - perhaps I am complicating things needlessly. In my enthusiasm, I thought . . ."  
  
Cere-Cere suddenly shoved her mouth to his, because in that brief moment the thought of hurting him so brought her to the brink of despair that she couldn't abide it. He pulled back, startled, but she wrapped her arms around his neck and kissed him like it was her last moment on Earth. Gallan finally recognized what she was doing and returned her ardor with everything he felt for her. At length, their lips parted.  
  
"I'm sorry," Cere-Cere sniffed. "I didn't mean to hurt you. But all I seem to be able to do is hurt the people closest to me."  
  
"Cere," he whispered, out of breath and intoxicated by her. "Then you do love me?"  
  
"Yes," she whimpered. "I was afraid to. I was afraid of getting hurt. I don't know if we can work, Gallan. I don't know how. But you're too strong. You're in my blood now." She kissed him again, softer and more respectful this time. "I'm sorry if I hurt you."  
  
"I apologize for putting you in such a predicament," Gallan responded. "Upon my very existence, I wish nothing for you but all the happiness you can have."  
  
At the far end of the grove, by the border with the queen's garden, eyes watched from concealment. Those eyes belonged to Ves-Ves and she was once more in a quandary.  
  
"What is she doing?" Ves-Ves wondered. "Is she seeing things? Is she play-acting or something?"  
  
"What are you doing, Ves-Ves?" she heard Palla-Palla say. Whirling around in surprise, Ves-Ves found no one behind her. Only then did she realize that her sister had spoken to her telepathically.  
  
"Where are you?" Ves-Ves demanded mentally.  
  
"In the palace. Palla-Palla can see you from the window."  
  
Ves-Ves looked up. After several sight adjustments, she spotted the precocious Palla-Palla leaning out of a third floor window. It must have been the play area in the orphanage. Palla-Palla often went there to play dolls with the two young orphans that the queen was housing.  
  
"What are you doing?" Palla-Palla reiterated.  
  
"What's it look like, stupid?" Ves-Ves thought back.  
  
"It looks like you're playing 'hide and seek'. Can Palla-Palla play?"  
  
"I'm TRYING to find out who this Gallan guy is!" Ves-Ves shot back mentally. "I followed Cere-Cere hoping she'd meet up with him, but all she's doing is acting weird! She's beginning to scare me."  
  
"What's she doing?" Palla-Palla asked.  
  
"She's doing a lot of crying," Ves-Ves thought back, "and she's hugging the air and talking to herself. I think she's flipped out. Maybe SHE ought to be the one going to see Sensei Mizuno-sama three times a week." Ves-Ves peered out from behind the bush to see if Cere-Cere was still there. "Hey, stupid, can you spot her from where you are? She's up by that bunch of trees."  
  
Palla-Palla leaned out the window farther.  
  
"Oh! Palla-Palla sees her now!" Palla-Palla thought-cast.  
  
"Don't you think she's acting weird?"  
  
"No. Cere-Cere's just hugging her boyfriend. What's weird about that?"  
  
"What?" Ves-Ves gasped. She looked again and again saw just Cere-Cere in the grove of trees.  
  
"Cere-Cere's boyfriend is very pretty," Palla-Palla thought to Ves-Ves. "Palla-Palla can see why Cere-Cere loves him so."  
  
"You see somebody?" Ves-Ves asked.  
  
"Well, yeah. Don't you?"  
  
Ves-Ves stared again. The only person she could see was Cere-Cere.  
  
"Are you making this up?" Ves-Ves demanded.  
  
"No! Palla-Palla sees him! Honest!"  
  
"Palla-Palla, what's he look like?"  
  
"Well, he has brown hair and a very pretty face. And he's kind of thin, like Miss Hotaru-ma'am, only he's a boy. And he's not wearing any clothes."  
  
"You are making this up!"  
  
"Honest! And he's got this little thing between his . . ."  
  
"OK, OK!" Ves-Ves gasped out mentally. "So why can't I see him?"  
  
"Palla-Palla doesn't know. But she can see him and so can Cere-Cere." Palla-Palla paused for a moment. "And so can the other man."  
  
"What other man?" Ves-Ves asked. She looked out from behind the bush again, but once more only saw Cere-Cere.  
  
"The other man with no clothes on," Palla-Palla said. "Ooh, Palla-Palla doesn't like him. He looks mean."  
  
Continued in Chapter 4 


	4. Sprouting Doubts

"NATURE LOVER"  
A Neo-Sailor Moon fanfic Chapter 4: "Sprouting Doubts"  
  
By Bill K.  
  
"What are we going to do?" Cere-Cere asked, her arms around Gallan's neck and his secure around her waist. The very feel of his lean body against hers made the thought of life without him abhorrent. But the possibility of them being together for the eternity that she wished for seemed to wither with each passing moment.  
  
"They are your family," Gallan said softly, nuzzling her as he whispered into her ear. "You must be honest with them."  
"No!" she wailed. "They won't understand! They can't!"  
  
"Surely they would," he persisted, "for you?"  
  
Cere-Cere pulled back and looked into his deep, warm, kind brown eyes. She wanted to believe he knew what he was talking about. She wanted it desperately. But Gallan didn't know this world like she did. He was - - too innocent. A stab in her heart told Cere-Cere just how much she longed for him to stay so innocent. Impulsively she hugged him to her, suddenly afraid that this was the last moment they could spend together in innocent bliss.  
  
"Gallan!" came the sharp bark of a voice to her right.  
  
The couple turned and found a man walking up to them. He was tall and willowy, with brown hair slicked back from his forehead. Cere-Cere instantly knew he was of Gallan's kind. His utter nakedness was one clue, though there were others. As he approached, she noticed a faint resemblance to Gallan.  
  
"Ailwoode?" Gallan asked, surprised by the stranger's appearance. "You know him?" Cere-Cere asked, noting Gallan's familiarity.  
  
"He is my brother," smiled Gallan. "Ailwoode, please meet Cere-Cere."  
  
"Gallan, this has gone far enough!" Ailwoode said sternly, his features pinched into frustration and anger. He snubbed Cere-Cere, perhaps deliberately. "This farce must end - -  
NOW!"  
  
"Ailwoode?" Gallan gasped. "Farce? What do you mean?"  
  
"This," sputtered Ailwoode, "absurd tryst with this female! You must come back - - back to your kind!"  
"Brother, what has possessed you?" Gallan asked in astonishment. "I could ask you the same thing, brother," Ailwoode replied wearily. Then he cast a critical eye at Cere-Cere. "But perhaps I already know."  
  
"Brother!" Gallan gasped.  
  
"You did this to him!" he snapped. "You have him under some spell so he won't listen to reason!"  
  
"Gallan loves me!" spat Cere-Cere. "And I love him! That's the only spell working here!"  
  
Gallan interceded himself between his brother and Cere-Cere.  
  
"Have you lost your mind?" Gallan demanded. "How can you say such hateful things? Don't you understand? I love her!"  
  
"Don't YOU understand?" pleaded Ailwoode. "I sympathize with you, Gallan, I do. But this cannot be. Your pairing is doomed, Gallan. It can never be, no matter how much you wish it so. You are what you are." He glanced contemptuously at Cere-Cere. "And they are what they are."  
  
"No!" snapped Gallan. "It can work! It will! We love each other! Nothing else matters!" He grasped Ailwoode by the shoulders. "Brother, please. Be happy for us."  
  
"They said you wouldn't listen," Ailwoode sighed helplessly. "I had hoped they were wrong. This will end badly for you, brother. Please, please listen and heed my warning."  
  
"Unless your words are ones of congratulations," Gallan replied, hurt and betrayal etched on his face, "I care not to hear them."  
  
With a huff of frustration, Ailwoode turned to leave. He lingered a moment to cast a vengeful stare at Cere-Cere, then left. Sadly Gallan turned back to Cere-Cere and gathered her hands in his.  
  
"I now understand your reluctance," Gallan whispered. He brought the girl's hands up to his mouth and kissed them. Cere-Cere freed her hands from his grasp. She gathered his head in her hands and pressed it to her breast, then kissed the top of his head as he held her.  
- - - -  
The door to the quarters she shared with her adoptive mother and father hissed open and Hotaru entered. She put down her hand-held computer terminal and flopped onto a chair. A faint smile came over her. Thinking about everything that she did to assist Ami gave her such a feeling of accomplishment and pride. If ever she'd had doubts about her desire to go into medicine, they were gone now. If she could be one-tenth the doctor Ami Mizuno was, she'd be fulfilled.  
  
"Oh, you're home," Michiru said, spotting Hotaru. She leaned out the serving window between the kitchen and the dining area of the moderate size living quarters. "I didn't hear you come in. You usually announce yourself."  
  
"I'm sorry, Michiru-mama," Hotaru said, bouncing up and over to the serving bay. "I guess I was lost in thought."  
  
"You seem to be doing that a lot lately," Michiru smiled. She was leaning on her cane next to a stove with a wok on it. "What were you daydreaming about now: your part-time job with Ami or that nice young man you're seeing?"  
"My job with Mizuno-sensei," Hotaru admitted. She eased up on one of the stools at the serving bay's counter. "Mama, it's so great! Every day I'm with her I learn something new. I'm learning three times as much from her as I do in school. I wish I could assist her full-time."  
  
"I had a feeling that was it," Michiru smiled. "I could tell by the glow. You get a different glow when you're thinking about your young man."  
  
Hotaru flushed.  
  
"Well I can certainly understand. I've always respected Ami's intellect and her manner with people. Do you think this is what you want to do with your life?"  
  
"Oh yes!" Hotaru nodded. Then her features clouded. "I just don't know if I can."  
  
Michiru's hand folded over Hotaru's.  
  
"Why not?" the woman asked.  
  
"There's so much to learn," Hotaru replied.  
  
"You're a good student."  
  
"But coming to the thirtieth century put me so far behind. There are so many advances just in life that I have to learn about, not even counting medicine. I try my hardest, but my grades just don't seem to want to come up. Sometimes I think I'm never going to get it."  
  
"I'm sure it's hard," Michiru said, lightly caressing the back of Hotaru's hand. "It's a lot to overcome. You do have time, you know. If it doesn't come instantly, that doesn't mean it's not going to come. I have faith in you. You're smarter than you think you are, Hotaru-chan, just like you're stronger than you think you are. You've proven that to me, and I'm the original skeptic. The sooner you accept it, the easier things will be for you."  
"If you say so," Hotaru said, the diplomatic skeptic.  
  
Michiru smiled maternally. "What would you like for dinner?"  
  
"Um, something quick? Yutaka and I are going out."  
  
"You are?" Michiru asked, an eyebrow raised. "Since when?"  
  
"Didn't I tell you? I'm sorry, Mama!" Hotaru gasped anxiously. "I'm taking Yutaka to Aino-san's show tonight." Hotaru shrunk with embarrassment. "Since he showed me the music he likes when we went to the Synthezoids show, I thought I'd show him the music I like."  
  
"Perfectly acceptable," Michiru said evenly. "If you'd cleared this with me in advance,  
there wouldn't be a problem."  
  
"Mama, I forgot! I'm sorry! It's just Aino-san's show! Please say I can go, Mama!"  
  
Children - - they had that unique ability to make you seem like an autocratic dictator for doing the right thing.  
  
"Very well," sighed Michiru. Then she pointed a finger at Hotaru. "But if it happens again . . ."  
  
"It won't! I swear! Thank you, Mama!"  
  
"Is Hotaru . . .?" Haruka began, popping her head out of one of the inner rooms. "Oh,  
there you are. Didn't hear you come in. 'That boy' is on the vid-com for you."  
  
"Yutaka!" gasped Hotaru. Instantly she was off her stool. She buzzed past Haruka at high speed. "I'll take it in my room!"  
  
"Why can't you talk to him out here?" Haruka wondered, slightly annoyed.  
  
"Papa!" Hotaru gasped indignantly, then fled to her room. Haruka shook her head and ambled over to the serving bay and a smirking Michiru.  
  
"What's so funny?" Haruka asked.  
  
"You," she giggled. "You play the over-protective father so well."  
  
"Who's playing?" Haruka grumbled. "And why couldn't she take it out here?"  
  
"Haruka, no teenage girl wants to talk to her boyfriend in earshot of her guardians. I thought you knew that."  
  
"Why? Has she got something to hide?"  
  
"Haruka, privacy is important to a teen. It won't hurt to let her have some. And naturally she's going to want to keep us at arm's length concerning this. After all, what do two old people like us know about the passion of first love?" As she talked, Michiru lightly traced a pattern on the back of Haruka's hand with her fingernail. It was just light enough to be noticed.  
  
"You know what that does to me, don't you?" Haruka asked, passion building in her voice as she locked eyes with Michiru.  
  
"Um hmm," Michiru smiled, affecting her best coquette expression.  
- - - -  
Minako sat in one of her favorite spots in the universe - - before her mirror - - primping with a practiced hand. She was trying to get her look just right, the way she had before a show for the last thousand years. She hadn't changed in a thousand years, thanks to the magical ability senshi had not to age. She was the same as she'd been that first day of that first show. And all at once the actions seemed just a little absurd.  
  
"Face it, girl," she smirked at her mirror. "You have an ego." Playfully she feigned shock at her reflection. "Me?" she gasped. "The idol of billions? I'm doing this for my fans!" Then Minako twittered her amusement at herself.  
  
"You're the only person I know who could lose an argument with herself," came a familiar voice from the dark corners of the room.  
  
"Artemis!" she roared. "When are you going to stop doing that?"  
  
"When are you going to stop talking to your reflection?" the cat asked. He stretched as he emerged from her dressing closet.  
  
"You know, sometimes I think you have a fetish for women's clothes," Minako grumbled.  
  
"Your closet is dark and private," Artemis replied indignantly. "When you're not here, it's quiet, too."  
  
"Why don't you sleep in your own quarters?"  
  
"And get a lecture about what a lazy, slothful wretch I am? Why do you think I sleep here?"  
  
"I'm beginning to wonder," Minako said, raising an eyebrow. "I've always suspected that you like peeping on gorgeous women when they change clothes, you old hentai."  
  
"I don't look at older women," Artemis replied. Then he jumped over the flung hairbrush he knew was coming. "It's just a small show at a dinner club. What's the big deal?"  
  
"I ALWAYS look my best for my fans," Minako huffed. "Sure I don't do big concerts anymore - - because today's youth wouldn't know good music if they were slapped in the face with it - - but I do my best for a show no matter what size it is. You have to - - otherwise you won't have any fans pretty soon. And they come with an image of me that I have to live up to."  
  
"You look fine," Artemis told her. "You've always looked fine."  
  
"Thanks," Minako grinned. "But 'fine' isn't good enough. I have to be perfect - - for them."  
  
The computerized door lock chimed. "Ves-Ves desires entry," it reported.  
  
"Let her in," Minako said, turning to the door. Ves-Ves entered, looking like she was bearding a lion in its den. Once again Minako regretted the distance that was between them. Still, if Ves-Ves had ventured here at all, it must be important. "What's up?"  
  
"Um," Ves-Ves began cautiously, "M-Minako? I've got a problem and I need some advice."  
  
"Sure," Minako said, gratified that she was coming to her. "What can I do for you?"  
  
"Well, there's something weird going on. You see, Cere-Cere's got this new guy - - his name's Gallan, I guess - - but she wouldn't introduce us to him at all, even when we found out. It's like she's trying to keep him a secret or something."  
  
"Uh huh," Minako nodded. Artemis was listening with interest, too.  
  
"So I, um, followed her," Ves-Ves admitted, "to try to get a look at him, you know - -  
because I was worried he might be bad for her or something!"  
  
Minako and Artemis exchanged amused glances.  
  
"Only thing is, when she got to where they usually meet, it looked like she was talking to the air! I couldn't see anything!"  
  
"That is odd," Artemis noted.  
  
"It gets worse," Ves-Ves continued. "Palla-Palla can see someone! She says he's about fifteen with brown hair and really cute. So I don't know what to think now! Is something weird about him or is it me? What do you think?"  
  
"Artemis?" Minako asked, because she was clearly stumped.  
  
"Well, we've met so many strange things over the years," the cat began. "It could be anything: mental projection, alien life form or even a spirit form. Does she meet this Gallan in the same place?"  
  
"Every time," nodded Ves-Ves. "Down in those trees just next to the garden. You think he's a ghost?"  
  
"It's too early to jump to conclusions," Minako said. "But this is clearly more than just two teenagers in lust." Minako thought a moment. "Tell you what - - you get Palla-Palla and meet me in Ami's office. I'll round up Rei. Between the three of us, we ought to be able to figure this out." She turned to the white cat. "Coming, Fuzzy Butt?"  
  
"Wouldn't miss it," the feline grinned.  
  
"Um, what about your show?" Ves-Ves asked.  
  
"How'd you know about that?" Minako inquired.  
  
Ves-Ves flushed. "I've, um, got tickets."  
  
Minako grinned. "Have I ever let a fan down yet? I've still got an hour. I can set Ami and Rei onto the problem, do the show and be back before Ami finishes her dissertation on the possibilities."  
  
As the pair headed out the door, Artemis just shook his head and followed.  
  
In Ami's office, Makoto was forcing the workaholic Dr. Mizuno to close down for the night. As usual, Ami was resisting.  
  
"Just let me finish this report, please?" Ami pleaded, trying to read the words on the screen.  
  
"That's what you always say," Makoto replied. She tried for several moments to eject the memory crystal from the viewer while Ami tried to push her hands away. "Ami, don't make me put you in a hammer-lock!"  
  
"You wouldn't!" gasped Ami. This allowed Makoto to strike. Her hand popped the crystal out of its holder. Ami lunged for it, but Makoto held it over her head, out of reach. "Makoto!"  
  
"No," the tall brunette said.  
  
"Honestly, I don't know how you expect me to get any work done around here," Ami groused.  
  
"It'll keep. Besides, I thought that's what you had Hotaru around here for. Isn't she working out?"  
  
"Yes, she's a great help. In spite of what she thinks, the girl has the potential to be quite brilliant. And she certainly has the enthusiasm for the job. One might almost say too much enthusiasm. I worry about her devoting so much time and energy to work at the expense of her other interests."  
  
"Sounds like someone I know," smirked Makoto.  
  
The office door hissed open. Entering were Jun-Jun and Palla-Palla. The elder amazon bowed to her elders, while Palla-Palla put her hands behind her and looked adorable.  
  
"Hey, kids," Makoto smiled. "Something up?"  
  
"I think so," Jun-Jun nodded. "Apparently Cere-Cere has a boyfriend."  
  
"What's so unusual about that? I sure had my share when I was her age."  
  
"Well, Ves-Ves and Palla-Palla were spying on them, trying to get a look at him. Palla-Palla could see him, but he was invisible to Ves-Ves." Makoto and Ami traded surprised looks.  
  
"That's intriguing," Ami said, her brow furrowed with thought.  
  
"Where were they meeting?" Makoto asked.  
  
"Just outside the palace, by that patch of trees," Jun-Jun told her.  
  
"OK." Makoto turned to the nearest computer station and called up the surveillance records for that area. The others crowded around to watch. "Well, there's Cere-Cere, but I don't see anybody else."  
  
"But Miss Makoto ma'am, Palla-Palla really saw him. Honest."  
  
"We believe you, Palla-Palla," Ami said. She pointed to Cere-Cere on the screen. "You notice Cere-Cere is conversing with someone. Either she's having a dialog with an imaginary person or with someone whom the surveillance cameras can't record."  
  
Just then the door opened behind them. The group turned and found Ves-Ves and Minako entering.  
  
"Let me guess," Minako asked, noticing the display screen. "Cere-Cere's mystery boyfriend?"  
  
"Ves-Ves told you?" Ami asked. She motioned Ves-Ves to the screen. "Is this what you were looking at earlier?"  
  
Makoto eased over to Minako. "Nice to see you two are on speaking terms again."  
  
"Yes, ma'am," Ves-Ves nodded. "It looked like she was talking to herself. But Palla-Palla says she saw something. What is it, a ghost?"  
  
Artemis hopped up on the desk and looked the image over.  
  
"It would be one explanation," the white cat said.  
  
"Certainly there's something more plausible?" Ami frowned.  
  
"I'm sure there is," the cat replied. "I just don't want to eliminate possibilities. You tend to discount supernatural explanations a little too quickly, Ami."  
  
"In that case, we also can't discount the possibility that Cere-Cere is hallucinating from either an external agent or some form of psychosis," Ami countered.  
  
"But Palla-Palla saw it, too," argued Makoto.  
  
"And she could have unconsciously picked up on the hallucinatory imagery in Cere-Cere's mind through telepathy," Ami retorted.  
  
"I told you Cere was nuts," Ves-Ves whispered to Jun-Jun.  
  
"Don't jump to conclusions, Ves," Jun-Jun whispered back.  
  
"Yes, there are at least half a dozen different explanations that jump to the top of my head," Artemis added. The girls looked at him strangely. "Sorry - - good hearing. But it's hard to tell one way or the other from this surveillance image."  
  
"Then how about we stop relying on machines and use our eyes," they heard Rei say. The priestess was framed in the doorway of the office.  
  
"Took you long enough," needled Minako.  
  
"When THEY call, I come. When YOU call, I think twice."  
  
Four elder senshi and three junior senshi, plus one curious cat, walked down the hall and into the now empty playroom adjacent to the orphanage. They approached the window overlooking the garden and the patch of trees and peered out. Below them, nestled against the trunk of a tree, sat Cere-Cere.  
  
"Is she sleeping?" Artemis asked.  
  
"Looks like she's talking to someone," Makoto said. "But I can't see anyone."  
  
"I told you," Ves-Ves said quickly. "What's wrong with her?"  
  
"I'd have to give her an extensive physical and mental evaluation to answer that question,"  
Ami told the girl.  
  
"Relax," Rei said, peering over Jun-Jun's shoulder. "She's not hallucinating, if that's what you're afraid of."  
  
"You see someone?" Ami asked in astonishment.  
  
"Um hmm," Rei nodded.  
  
"So how do you rate?" howled Minako. Rei gave her an acid glance.  
  
"There's a very simple explanation why you can't see him and I can. You're ordinary humans. You don't have the sight. And ordinary humans usually can't see tree spirits."  
  
Continued in Chapter 5 


	5. Family Tree

"NATURE LOVER"  
A Neo-Sailor Moon fanfic Chapter 5: "Family Tree"  
  
By Bill K.  
  
Lost in the arms of her Gallan, Cere-Cere found it very easy to lose track of time. The feel of him against her skin, the security of his strength around her upper body and the pleasant nuzzle of his mouth against her neck and ear was the perfect recipe for paradise. In addition, the shade of the towering tree they nestled against - - Gallan's host, for he was a tree spirit - - and the sweet aroma of the tree's pollen made paradise just that more perfect. Cere-Cere sighed in contentment.  
  
If only life could be like this forever.  
  
"Seeing you happy is the greatest gift I could receive," Gallan whispered into her ear.  
  
"Giving that kind of gift is really easy when you're around," she whispered back. "I love you, Gallan. When I first met you, I didn't think I could love a tree spirit. Then when it happened, I didn't think it would ever work, given how different we are." She sobered. "I'm still not sure if it can work, but when you hold me like this, it's what I want more than anything else in the world."  
"This love we have will work," he reassured her.  
"How do you know? We have so many things against us."  
  
"A love such as ours can't be conquered. It will persevere and outlast everything that opposes us."  
  
"You're so sure."  
  
"I'm a tree," he smiled, nuzzling her ear. "Our kind learns patience and perseverance very early." Cere-Cere giggled. Gallan could make her giggle at the slightest provocation.  
  
"So," she heard Rei Hino say off to their left, "are you going to introduce us?"  
  
"S-Sensei Hino-sama!" Cere-Cere gasped. She flushed with embarrassment and scrambled to her feet. Rei stood there placidly, with Ami, Makoto and Minako on one side of her and Palla-Palla, Jun-Jun and Ves-Ves on the other. To her minimal relief, Gallan stood up with her and remained by her side. Then a realization penetrated the red haze of mortification. "Y-You can see him?"  
  
"Of course she can," Gallan said, respect in his tone. "She can see many more things than most humans." He bowed respectfully to Rei. "I am Gallan, Sensei. This is my tree."  
  
"Gallan," she nodded, her bow less pronounced because of her superior status. "I am Hino Rei, priest of this area. I am pleased to make your acquaintance."  
  
"Palla-Palla is please to meet you, too, Mr. Gallan-sir," the impish blue-haired girl said,  
scampering to the front of the group. She bowed adorably, drawing a smile from Gallan. He returned her bow genially.  
  
"You can see him, too?" gaped Cere-Cere.  
"Sure," Palla-Palla grinned.  
  
"How?"  
  
"Because Palla-Palla isn't as stupid as you think she is," the girl replied smugly.  
  
"No, but you're even more embarrassing," muttered Cere-Cere.  
  
"So what's he look like?" Minako whispered in Rei's ear.  
  
"You'd probably wet yourself," Rei whispered back.  
  
"That good, huh?" Minako replied, a smile on her face and a twinkle in her eye.  
  
"Rei, ask him where he lives," Ami said excitedly. "Ask him what his species is like. Are there family units? Are there differing sexes? How long has he lived here?"  
  
"Ami, he can hear you," Rei told her patiently. "You just can't see or hear him."  
  
"So what does he say?" Ami asked impatiently.  
  
"I'll fill you in later."  
  
"But Rei!"  
  
"Later," Makoto whispered insistently. She snaked her arm around Ami's waist to keep her under control.  
  
"But this is a new life form! I may never get this chance again!"  
  
"Later. He's not going anywhere." Ami still seemed insistent. "I'll make you a cheesecake."  
  
Ami grimaced. "One day your bribes aren't going to work.  
  
"Wait a minute," growled Ves-Ves. "There's nothing here!"  
  
"Just because you can't see him doesn't mean he isn't here!" her sister shot back defensively.  
  
"OK, even if there is someone there - - which I doubt - - he's a tree!"  
  
"So?"  
  
"So? He's a tree! You're a human! How much plainer do I have to make this? You're in love with a tree!"  
  
"Would you stop judging things you know NOTHING about!" Rei snapped. She glared at Ves-Ves with all the usual venom brought on by her memory of the girl's attack on Usa, plus some for this confrontation. Ves-Ves glared back.  
  
"Please," Ami interceded. "There's no need for a fight here." Because it was Ami saying it, Ves-Ves backed down.  
"Don't rebuke her," Gallan offered. "She only gives voice to thoughts both of us have already entertained." He grasped Cere-Cere's hand and brought it to his bare chest. "We are different. We know this. And while it is not unprecedented for one of my kind to fall in love with a human, it is extremely rare - - and has not always ended well." He glanced over to Cere-Cere and she blushed. "But what we feel for each other is strong enough to overcome the many obstacles ahead of us. I only plead with you and your friends that you not place more ahead of us." He squeezed her hand. "I would give my life to make her happy."  
  
"And that's the one thing that would make me saddest," Cere-Cere said. She reached up and brushed a lock of his brown hair from his forehead.  
  
"Oh my," whispered Palla-Palla. "That was beautiful."  
  
"You two are serious about each other?" Rei asked as Ami and Minako watched her and then Cere-Cere.  
  
"Oh yeah," Cere-Cere nodded.  
  
"I would spend my life with her," Gallan nodded.  
  
"I pray it comes to pass," Rei said, touching Gallan's hand as well as Cere-Cere's. But deep in her heart, the priest worried. The king, the queen and their princess were enjoying a quiet dinner by themselves in the royal dining chambers. This was a particularly unique occasion, in that Usa's appearances at the dinner table were growing fewer and farther apart. As such, her parents were reluctant to comment on that fact or anything else they feared would drive her away from the table.  
  
Yet their pink-tressed progeny seemed unusually sedate at the table. Endymion resisted commenting on it, content to enjoy his daughter's company. Serenity, though, couldn't resist trying to draw her daughter out, just as she couldn't resist chatting with anyone.  
  
"Were you and Hotaru going out tonight?" Serenity asked.  
  
"No," the princess replied. "She's going out with Yutaka."  
  
"Oh," the queen nodded. "That doesn't bother you, does it?"  
  
"Of course not!" Usa frowned. "I don't have a monopoly on Hotaru's time just because I'm the Princess!"  
  
"I never said you did," Serenity replied. "I always thought you two spent so much time together because you were such close friends, that's all. Yutaka is a nice young man. I'm glad he and Hotaru have formed a friendship." She watched her daughter for a moment. "You don't resent him, do you?"  
  
"Mother!" huffed Usa. "How much of an emotional cripple do you think I am? I think it's great Hotaru's found a boy that likes her! She deserves all the happiness she can find! And the way she's found the job of her dreams helping out Ami-san - - it's great! Of course I'm happy for her! What kind of friend would I be if I wasn't?"  
  
Usa felt both of her parents staring at her, surprised and amazed at her outburst. Her gaze dropped back to her plate.  
  
"Well," Serenity began awkwardly, "I'm glad things are working out for her."  
  
A tense silence filled the room.  
  
"So what is bothering you, honey?" Serenity asked. Endymion clenched his teeth.  
  
"Excuse me," Usa growled. She pushed back from the table and headed for her room.  
  
"Usa!" Endymion said sharply. The girl stopped reluctantly, then turned and gave her father an impatient look. Intuitively Endymion knew that to force her back to the table might cause what was now just a petulant mood to become bitter. "We were just concerned. You can go now if you really want to."  
  
Her impatient expression softened a little. Without a word, Usa turned and headed for her room.  
  
"Endymion, what's wrong now?" whimpered Serenity.  
  
"I don't know," he sighed. "That's the trouble with teenagers: everything's a crisis to them. It's hard to know the legitimate traumas from the imagined ones sometimes." He thought a moment. "Maybe she's feeling lonely and abandoned again. I suppose it fits, given Hotaru's new interests. Those old fears may still run deep in her, despite her protests otherwise."  
  
"Oh, I'll never forgive myself for not paying more attention to her when she was younger," Serenity sniffed. Endymion reached over and caught her hand.  
  
"Despite your power, you're still just one person," he said, "and even you can only do so much. There's more on your agenda than just wife and mother. Someday, hopefully, Usa will realize that."  
  
Serenity nodded and went back to eating. Endymion noted that she began eating faster,  
literally shoveling the food into her mouth the way she always did when she was upset.  
  
"Careful you don't take a bite out of those chopsticks, Odango Atama," Endymion smirked.  
  
Serenity shot him a withering glare, the sort of petulant anger that so reminded him of their sidewalk battles when they were teens so long ago - - expressions he was beginning to see more and more in Usa's face. Then his wife realized why he said it and her mouth curled into a little smile.  
  
In her room, Usa lay across her bed, a pillow clutched to her middle. She was happy for Hotaru - - SHE WAS! She knew what being in love felt like and if Hotaru had a chance at it with Yutaka, it was wonderful. And she knew what finding your niche was like, too, of finding that job or pursuit that excited you and made you feel like you were contributing to society and not just living off of it. Hotaru wanted this - - Usa could see the light in her eyes every time they talked.  
  
When they talked.  
  
But Hotaru didn't seem to ever have time for her anymore. Sure she had other friends, but Hotaru was her best friend. And she missed the girl with the sad eyes and the huge heart. It was like someone had poured molten steel into her chest and it had hardened around her heart. She recognized the feelings from the old days, before she'd met Hotaru, when she sometimes felt like she was the only person in a cold, vast, uncaring universe. Hotaru had done so much to drive those feelings away. Feeling the isolation creep up around her again scared her - - but it didn't give her the right to intrude upon Hotaru's new life and new interests. Being the princess didn't make her special.  
  
Unconscious of the sudden feeling she had motivating her, Usa got up and crossed over to her computer station. Pulling up the text composition program, she began writing her feelings down in verse. This went on for forty-five minutes, stopping and starting, erasing, correcting and adjusting until she had the lines of a song. The file was then transferred to a program that converted audio input into musical notes.  
  
Usa sat back in her chair and thought a moment. Then her mouth opened and her lovely voice began randomly emitting a tune. The computer dutifully copied it. "What are you doing?" Ves-Ves asked. Jun-Jun was rifling through computer files at a furious pace.  
  
"I'm reading up on tree spirits," Jun-Jun replied. "I figure if my sister is going to be in love with one, I should know all I can."  
  
"How much beyond 'it's weird' do you have to know?"  
  
"You know, maybe you wouldn't have such a temper if you had a more open mind,"  
Jun-Jun scowled.  
  
"Why can't anybody get this? He's a tree. She's a girl!"  
  
"So? The King and Queen are a thousand years old and the Princess is in love with a horse. Sounds like business as usual for this place."  
  
"Well at least you can see Helios," grumbled Ves-Ves. "I mean, how are they going to,  
you know - - do it?"  
  
"Why, did you want to watch?"  
  
"I'm no pervert!" Ves-Ves barked. "I just, you know, wonder. And if they can, would she get splinters?"  
  
"OH THAT'S JUST GROSS!" snapped Jun-Jun. "You know, Ves, you can have love without sex!"  
  
"Yeah, but it's a lot more fun 'with'," Ves-Ves replied. She wandered over to her sister's workstation. "So what's it say?"  
  
"Well, there are a lot of myths," Jun-Jun said. "Mostly they involve humans coexisting with trees, worshiping them and stuff. One tale says you can create a demon spirit if you cut down a tree without asking its permission first. Other stories say tree spirits are dead people who inhabit the trees because they can't pass into heaven."  
  
"Any threatening stories?" Ves-Ves asked.  
  
"A few. Mostly tree spirits are presented as benevolent, but there are a few stories about angered spirits taking retribution on the humans who wronged them." Jun-Jun turned to her sister with a wicked smile. "So watch your mouth around Gallan or he's liable to take retribution on you."  
  
"Hmph!" snorted Ves-Ves, arms folded over her chest. "I'd like to see him try."  
  
"Hey, weren't you going to Sensei Aino-sama's show tonight?"  
  
"OH, CRAP!" Ves-Ves yelled. The girl tore into her room and emerged five minutes later in an artificial red leather jumpsuit with black boots and gloves. "I hope I don't miss the opening!"  
  
"My, that's a conservative outfit," Jun-Jun commented.  
  
"Well I don't want Minako . . . Sensei Aino-sama to be insulted!" Ves-Ves gasped in horror. She raced for the door. "Don't wait up! I'm probably going to be late!"  
  
"Don't forget we have," Jun-Jun began, but the door closed. "Curfew," she scowled. Cere-Cere closed the history program and pushed away from her computer station. She was going to fail the test they had coming up - - which was nothing new. History bored her to tears. But she wasn't going to remember what she just studied for a different reason this time. The girl with the scarlet tresses done up in huge rings on either side of her head was concerned about her relationship with Gallan. Could they make it work? Were they doomed to fail as a couple? Cere-Cere didn't want to believe that, because she couldn't spend two minutes alone without missing Gallan's gentle touch. But her chat earlier with Jun-Jun had imprinted too many of the rational senshi-in-training's thoughts and concerns on her brain. The possibility hung over them both like a mythical sword of Damocles.  
  
"Cere-Cere?" she heard Palla-Palla say and turned to the girl. The little blue-haired girl was in her pajamas, holding her stuffed bear. Cere-Cere glanced at the chronometer and saw it was twenty-two hundred hours. "Can you tell Palla-Palla her bedtime story?"  
  
"Doesn't Ves-Ves or Jun-Jun usually do that?" Cere-Cere asked. She really wasn't in the mood to do anything other than mope unless it involved contact with Gallan.  
  
"Ves-Ves is at her concert and Jun-Jun is visiting Miss Makoto-ma'am," the girl said. "Please?"  
"Palla-Palla, you're fifteen. Isn't it about time you outgrew bedtime stories?"  
  
"Please?"  
  
And Palla-Palla used "the eyes", the look that instantly made you feel cruel and heartless if you didn't do exactly what she wanted.  
  
"Oh, all right," Cere-Cere sighed helplessly. Palla-Palla happily scampered to bed.  
  
Once inside her sister's room, Cere-Cere pulled up a chair. Palla-Palla was snuggled in bed, her face awash with happy anticipation.  
  
"Once upon a time there were three bears . . ." Cere-Cere began.  
  
"Palla-Palla knows that one!" the girl whined. "Tell her a new one!"  
  
"You can be SO aggravating sometimes!" fumed Cere-Cere. She thought a minute. "OK. There once was a lonely princess in a castle of diamond. Though she had family who loved her,  
she didn't have that special someone who could love her and make her happy and make her feel like a woman." Cere-Cere paused to think. "She had dozens of boys who thought she was very beautiful and wanted her hand, but she found they were all beneath her and unworthy of her love. She wondered if someone would ever come along and be the one for her."  
  
She glanced at Palla-Palla. Her sister was watching her with rapt attention.  
  
"Then one day she met a prince from a different land. He was very handsome, so handsome that she ached to touch him the moment she looked upon him. But the others had been handsome, too, and they proved to be inadequate. So when he professed his love for her,  
she wasn't sure if she could return his feelings. However his gentle manner and his earnest affection - - and the fact that he was stone gorgeous - - weakened her resolve and made her give him a chance to see if he was worthy."  
  
"Was he?" Palla-Palla asked.  
  
"He was," Cere-Cere smiled, almost embarrassed to admit it. "He was a very intelligent prince. He told her things she never knew before and showed her ways of looking at the things she did know that made them new again. He made her laugh and he made her sigh. He made her feel like she was the reason the universe existed. He made her feel like a mature woman instead of the little girl that she had been before, playing at love and courtship without really knowing what it was. But mostly he gave her reasons to love him, reasons none of the other boys could come up with. And when she finally did fall in love with him, it made him the happiest prince in all the lands. And seeing that he was happy made her the happiest princess in all the lands."  
  
"And they lived happily ever after?" Palla-Palla asked.  
  
"Well," Cere-Cere whispered, "no - - because he was from a different land and couldn't stay with her. And she couldn't stay in his land because - - because they were different. But they never stopped loving each other. They visited as much as they could. They were happy when they visited. It almost made up for the sad times when they were apart."  
  
"That's not a very nice story," Palla-Palla whimpered.  
  
"Yes it is," Cere-Cere smiled. "The princess was better off for meeting the prince, even though they couldn't be together all the time. Having love some of the time and wanting more is way better than never having it at all."  
  
Palla-Palla settled back into her pillow.  
  
"That going to hold you for the night?" Cere-Cere asked.  
  
Palla-Palla nodded. Cere-Cere got up and headed for the door.  
  
"Cere-Cere?"  
  
"Yes?" Cere-Cere replied, trying to hide her frustration.  
  
"Palla-Palla hopes things work out between you and the prince."  
  
A lump formed in Cere-Cere's throat.  
  
"Thanks," she choked out.  
  
The door hissed closed behind her. Cere-Cere stood against it for a moment, wondering about the strange chemistry in her sister's brain that made her so juvenile one moment and so incredibly perceptive the next.  
  
"I hope you get your wish, Palla-Palla," she whispered.  
  
She turned - - and ran directly into Gallan's brother, Ailwoode.  
  
"W-What are you doing here?" she sputtered.  
  
"You know a love between a human and a spirit of the trees cannot end in anything but tragedy?" he asked pointedly.  
  
"It's not preordained," she argued.  
  
"You will cause him nothing but heartache and misery," Ailwoode countered.  
"Are you that selfish?"  
  
"You're the one who's selfish! Gallan is happy, as happy as he's ever been in all of his existence, and you want to break that up! Why do you hate me?"  
  
"I do not 'hate' you, personally. I hate what you are. And I hate that you cannot see. Gallan is young. So, I surmise, are you. You both do not understand that this cannot end well. I wish to spare him that. He will hurt now, but he will get better. The longer this lasts, the more cutting the hurt will be when you eventually part."  
  
"We're not going to part!" Cere-Cere hissed, fearing she'd alert her sister. "We're going to be together forever! You'll see!"  
  
Ailwoode looked at her. Cere-Cere could see the skepticism in his eyes, the tension in his naked body. Then she noted something else: the sprout, perhaps, of an idea.  
  
"Perhaps you do see more than I thought, human," Ailwoode said. He turned and passed through the wall. "Perhaps you have vision that I lack."  
  
Cere-Cere didn't like the tone of that at all.  
  
Continued in Chapter 6 


	6. An Idea Takes Root

* * *

"NATURE LOVER"  
A Neo-Sailor Moon fanfic

Chapter 6: "An Idea Takes Root"  
  
By Bill K.  
  
Ves-Ves came out of the club dancing. Her mind couldn't purge the memory of Minako's performance - - not that she was trying to - - and the memories were making her feet move. While Ves-Ves wasn't an accomplished dancer, the nimbleness she learned during her time in the Dead Moon Circus gave her a passing competency, enough to make several of the people she danced past nod in approval.  
  
"I am your ISLAND PRINCESS!" Ves-Ves croaked out in, to her ear, an approximation of Minako's climactic version of her first hit, then posed dramatically just as she had on the stage. "Yeah!" Ves-Ves shook her head in admiration. "That lady can sing! She beats 'Neuromancer'  
any day. Anybody who doesn't like her is a dope!"  
  
Ves-Ves pinched off a few more moves, recreating the concert with her body to keep the memory fresh in her mind. After coming out of a spin, she spied two people just up the Promenade from her.  
  
"Hey, that's Hotaru and her guy," Ves-Ves thought. "They must have gone to the show,  
too. Wonder if they're headed for the palace."  
  
Only two steps forward, though, Ves-Ves stopped and popped her eyes. Yutaka had turned and, still grasping Hotaru's hand, leaned in and kissed her. Hotaru arched up, going up on tiptoes, to lean into the kiss. Her body went rigid with excitement that was visible all the way across the Promenade.  
  
"Guess not," smirked Ves-Ves. "All right, Hotaru! Get yourself a whole bunch of that!" Ves-Ves backed up a few steps and gave the couple a wide berth. "Can't wait to hear the juicy details tomorrow. Hope she's in a sharing mood."  
  
The girl wandered unhurriedly toward the palace. Curfew was looming, but curfew never meant much to her. To Ves-Ves, there were rules you couldn't break and then there were rules that were instituted just to annoy teenagers - - curfew was one of the latter.  
  
"What are they going to do?" Ves-Ves shrugged. "Sensei Hino-sama already hates me anyway and if the queen wouldn't toss me out for losing my head and nearly killing the princess,  
she won't toss me for this." Ves-Ves scowled. "Hope Sensei Mizuno-sama understands."  
  
Her wanderings carried the girl past the grove of trees behind the garden. Ves-Ves stopped and looked at the silent trees blanketed by the dark of night. She focused on the one Cere-Cere was always sitting next to, the one that supposedly housed her Gallan. What she heard earlier from Jun-Jun popped up in her mind again. "Most tree spirits are benevolent, but there are stories of some who take vengeance on humans who wronged them." The redhead's lips thinned.  
  
Finally, using an even, unhurried yet determined gait, Ves-Ves walked up to the tree. She looked up, her towering hairdo falling precariously to the rear, so much so that it threatened to topple the girl. The tree loomed placidly above her. The night air blew past them, the first hint of autumn chill mixed in with the warmth of summer. Ves-Ves scowled.  
  
"Look," she began, addressing the tree. "I don't know if you can hear me. I don't know if you're even there." She crossed her arms. "Oh, this is so stupid!"  
  
She turned to leave, but relented and turned back.  
  
"Look, Gallan," she began testily. "Palla-Palla says you're real, so you must be. And Cere-Cere's kissing something down here." She stopped again and gathered her emotions. "I don't know if you're in love with Cere-Cere, or even if trees can be in love, or anything - - but I do know this: you better not hurt Cere-Cere, got me? Because if you do, I'll chop you up into toothpicks!"  
  
Suddenly feeling silly for talking to a tree, Ves-Ves turned and headed for the palace.  
  
"I love her," Ves-Ves heard a man's voice say. She whirled around and found Gallan in all of his naked glory standing next to his tree. He stood placidly, non-threateningly in the shadows of the night and looked earnestly at her. "I vow I will never intentionally harm her."  
  
Ves-Ves stared in amazement. He was real. He did exist.  
  
And he was naked - - and he was gorgeous.  
  
Then he smiled wryly.  
  
"And should I unintentionally harm my Cere-Cere, I vow I will come to you for my punishment without resistance."  
  
Ves-Ves nodded numbly. As Gallan watched her with amusement, the girl turned and stumbled blindly toward the palace, her mind occupied by what she'd just seen.  
  
"Oh my heaven, he's such a babe!" Ves-Ves thought to herself. "I wonder if they all look like that?"

* * *

Nearly an hour after Ves-Ves wandered into the palace, Hotaru and Yutaka entered. Blushing nervously as they passed the guard at the gate, the two teens headed upstairs until they reached Yutaka's floor. They paused, reluctant to part and yet knowing they were late already. Yutaka suddenly bent forward. Hotaru had just enough time to prepare herself before the boy's lips met hers. They kissed briefly but affectionately, then parted. Hotaru watched Yutaka walk down the hall, then turned and scampered to the turbolift and shot to her floor. Her feet barely touching the floor, Hotaru sailed to her door and entered the quarters she shared with Haruka and Michiru.  
  
Michiru was waiting for her arrival.  
  
"What time did we agree on?" Michiru asked. Her tone was even and unreproachful. Hotaru knew better.  
  
"I'm sorry, Mama," she began. "But the concert didn't let out until twenty-two thirty!"  
  
"What time did we agree on?" Michiru repeated.  
  
"Twenty-three hundred," Hotaru groaned.  
  
"Then you must be on Japanese Central Time."  
  
"No, Mama," Hotaru said glumly. "I stayed out past the time I was supposed to be back. It's just that Yutaka and I were having so much fun! I guess we kind of lost track of time."  
  
"Well, that can very easily happen when you're having fun," Michiru replied. She didn't seem angry and Hotaru allowed herself to hope. "But trust is a contract between two people. If one person doesn't live up to that bargain, that person can find it very difficult to obtain trust again."  
  
"Yes, Mama," Hotaru whimpered. "I'm sorry."  
  
"I'm glad." Again Hotaru dared to hope she was past the worst of it. "I hope you didn't have any plans to see Yutaka or anyone else tomorrow night."  
  
"Why?" Hotaru asked with dread.  
  
"Because you won't be going out tomorrow night."  
  
"Mama!"  
  
"Every action in life has consequences, Hotaru. Whether unintentionally or not, you abused my trust and you have to pay the consequences. You can still see Yutaka - - just not tomorrow night. Tomorrow night you will come straight home from school. If you have a shift in Ami's office, you can go there, but you will come straight home after. And don't invite anyone here, because I won't let them in."  
  
For a moment Hotaru looked like she was going to rebel. Then she lowered her gaze and her shoulders slumped.  
  
"Yes, Mama," she whispered.  
  
"I know you're disappointed," Michiru said in a conciliatory fashion. "Maybe you can use that disappointment to spur you on to better things." Michiru's eyes glistened sadly as she took in her step-daughter's mood. "Are you hungry? I can fix you something."  
  
"No, Mama," Hotaru replied softly. "I'm not hungry."  
  
Her euphoria totally crushed, the girl trudged off to bed. Michiru sighed out her disappointment and limped off for the room she shared with Haruka. She found Haruka asleep in a chair, the magazine she'd been trying to stay away with fallen from her lap. Chuckling silently to herself, Michiru leaned in from behind, softly wrapped her arms across Haruka's throat and kissed the woman on the forehead. Haruka stirred and turned groggily to her.  
  
"Hotaru's finally back," Michiru whispered.  
  
"What time is it?" mumbled Haruka.  
  
"After twenty-four hundred."  
  
"I'll kill him," Haruka muttered.  
  
"No you won't."  
  
"Can I maim him?"  
  
"Haruka," Michiru sighed, though the corners of her mouth were turned up. "They just got lost in each other and their rushing hormones and lost track of time - - like we used to do when we were their age."  
  
"That's what I'm afraid of," muttered Haruka.  
  
"I love you when you're possessive," chuckled Michiru. She kissed the woman on the ear and snuggled up close.

* * *

Breakfast in the dining hall was the usual fare: Palla-Palla eating a bowl of frosted cereal bigger than her head while her sisters ate more sensibly and waited for Usa and Hotaru with gossip. It was unusual in that Ves-Ves had a particularly juicy piece of gossip to share."You were pretty late last night," Jun-Jun observed.  
  
"The show ran long," Ves-Ves shrugged. "Minako was great, though!"  
  
"Why do we have to call her 'Sensei Aino-sama' and you get to use her first name?"  
groused Cere-Cere.  
  
"Yeah, seems pretty familiar," needled Jun-Jun.  
  
"I'M NOT BEING DISRESPECTFUL!" roared Ves-Ves. That drew several curious looks. "She said I could."  
  
"Maybe I ought to attack the Princess," muttered Cere-Cere. Ves-Ves glared.  
  
"So who caught you?" Jun-Jun asked.  
  
"Never mind that! You'll never guess what I saw!" Ves-Ves whispered.  
  
"Miss Hotaru Ma'am and Mister Yutaka Sir were kissing," Palla-Palla reported.  
  
"Thanks for spoiling the surprise, stupid," grumbled Ves-Ves. She got a very pleased-with-herself smile from Palla-Palla.  
  
"Hotaru?" gaped Cere-Cere. "Little Miss Wallflower - - kissing a boy?"  
  
"Must be getting serious," Jun-Jun smirked.  
  
"What's so special about kissing boys?" Palla-Palla asked. "Palla-Palla would rather play with her dollies."  
  
"And that's why there's no hope for you," Ves-Ves replied.  
  
"Brother, everybody's falling in love around here," Jun-Jun said. "First Cere and now Hotaru." She scowled. "When's it going to be my turn?"  
  
"I don't know, but you better be behind me," muttered Ves-Ves.  
  
Just then Jun-Jun noticed Hotaru approaching with her breakfast. She quickly shushed the group. The black-haired waif greeted everyone, sat down and was about to start eating. Then she noticed an unusual feeling of electricity at the table. She looked around at the gathered girls.  
  
"Why is everyone staring at me?" Hotaru asked.  
  
"Because we heard about last night," Cere-Cere said, grinning like a predator stalking prey.  
  
Hotaru blushed.  
  
"And so how well does Yutaka kiss?" Cere-Cere persisted. Everyone else leaned in except for Palla-Palla.  
  
"How did you four find out?" Hotaru squirmed.  
  
"You were observed," smiled Jun-Jun.  
  
"Don't dodge the question," Cere-Cere demanded.  
  
Hotaru visibly shrank in her seat.  
  
"He's," she struggled to say, "um, v-very nice."  
  
"Imagine that," Jun-Jun smiled.  
  
"So how far did you go?" Ves-Ves asked excitedly.  
  
"I'm not telling you that!" Hotaru gasped.  
  
"That far?" marveled Ves-Ves.  
  
"NO!" wailed Hotaru.  
  
"Ves - - shut up," scowled Cere-Cere. "So do you think he's the one?"  
  
Hotaru got a very self-conscious smile on her tiny face.  
  
"I hope so," Hotaru grinned. "I wouldn't mind feeling like this for the rest of my life."  
  
"Score," Ves-Ves grinned at Jun-Jun. Jun-Jun winked back.  
  
Just then a barely presentable Usa raced up to the table, nearly spilling her breakfast. She sat down and quickly shoveled three gulps of food into her mouth, to the amusement of the rest.  
  
"Sorry I'm late!" she gasped out between gulps. "I majorly overslept!" Three more gulps were shoved in before she noticed everyone else's expressions. "What happened? Are my rabbit ears crooked?"  
  
"Oh, nothing," Jun-Jun smiled mischievously. "It's just that a certain young girl had a major breakthrough with a certain male that's captured her fancy."  
  
"You and Gallan?" Usa asked around the glob of food she had in her mouth.  
  
"No," Cere-Cere sighed. "We're still in a holding pattern. It's 'another girl'," and Cere-Cere nodded her head in Hotaru's direction. Usa's eyes became saucers. The chopsticks fell from her hand and she whirled on Hotaru.  
  
"I want to hear EVERYTHING!" Usa gasped.  
  
"You will," Hotaru said timidly.  
  
"Tonight? Maybe we can get some studying done in between COMPLETE DETAILS?"  
  
Hotaru's face fell. "I can't."  
  
"Oh," Usa replied softly, her features falling just as much.  
  
"I'm sorry."  
  
"No, I understand." Usa glanced up at the chronometer. "Come on. We better not be late to class."  
  
Jun-Jun noticed Usa left the rest of her breakfast untouched as the group gathered their school bags and headed out. Entering the corridor, she eased up next to the princess.  
  
"Um, if you'd like to study with us tonight, we'd love to have you," the girl offered.  
  
Usa considered the offer for several steps as Jun-Jun waited expectantly.  
  
"OK," she whispered, then brightened ever so slightly. "Sounds like fun. Well, as fun as studying can be." Jun-Jun smiled.  
  
And Hotaru felt the pangs of guilt.

- - - -  
It didn't bother Michiru that she had another rehabilitation session in the palace infirmary. Her legs were still not totally healed from her ordeal on Ravenheim and they wouldn't get healed unless she worked at it. That's what the strenuous treadmill sessions were designed to do.  
  
It didn't bother her that it was at eight in the morning. She would have preferred a later time, but Ami and Haruka had both volunteered to help supervise her and they were notorious early risers. The time was inconsequential to her so long as she got the work done and saw improvement.  
  
It didn't bother her that Haruka was running right next to her on a separate treadmill,  
leading by example, encouraging her, pushing her. She was grateful for the time she could spend with Haruka, particularly after their long separation on Ravenheim. And she needed the companionship Haruka provided during the grueling exercise. She leaned on Haruka's inner strength and depended on Haruka's expertise as a runner to keep her going past the point she herself would have quit.  
  
What bothered her was that the treadmills had odometers mounted on them to measure distance ran - - and Haruka was beating her.  
  
"Come on," Haruka encouraged. "Keep up the pace."  
  
"How can you be so chipper after," panted Michiru, her maroon exercise leotard soaked with perspiration, "after the distance we've covered?"  
  
"This?" asked Haruka, dressed in a white tank top and blue running shorts. "This is nothing. You're just soft."  
  
"I wonder how chipper you'll be when I shove my cane up your . . .?"  
  
"Hey, hey now," smirked Haruka. "I'm still bigger than you and I can still turn you over my knee."  
  
"I'd like to see you try!" Michiru huffed, her sea green eyes flaring.  
  
"I'd like to see me try, too," Haruka replied with a leer.  
  
"Ami?" Michiru groaned. "Can I stop now? Or can I at least get a partner with something on her mind besides sex?"  
  
"Are you in pain?" Ami asked, her lab coat covering a form-fitting protective lab suit colored royal blue with sky blue piping.  
  
"Yes," she sighed.  
  
"Dull ache or sharp pain?" Haruka asked with concern.  
  
"I don't recall 'doctor' being in front of your name," Michiru replied petulantly because she could still see the odometers.  
  
"It's a good question," Ami told her. "Dull ache is a sign of muscle fatigue, which is expected to some degree in this type of rehab. Sharp pain indicates injury to some degree."  
  
"If I lie and say it's sharp, can I quit?" Michiru moaned.  
  
"No," Haruka replied.  
  
"And who was it who once chastised me for not giving my best effort?" Ami asked.  
  
"Do you remember everything that's ever happened to you, Ami?" Michiru sighed,  
annoyed at being confronted by her own words.  
  
"No," Ami smiled. "Only the important things." She glanced at the odometer. "Give me another fifty meters and you can rest."  
  
"You're almost as bad as the Imperial Guards were on Ravenheim," Michiru muttered.  
  
"So Ami," Haruka interjected, trying to change the subject, "Hotaru's doing pretty good here?"  
  
"Oh yes!" beamed Ami. "She's taken to it quite quickly. You can tell medicine is a passion with her."  
  
"She's not in the way here, is she?" Michiru asked.  
  
"Not at all! I'm grateful for the help. And I'm also grateful for the opportunity to expose a young mind to the joys of learning. It's too bad Usa dropped out after the first day, but then I never expected her to stay. Medicine isn't something she's really interested in, unlike Hotaru."  
  
"She certainly spends enough time here," Haruka said. "Between this and all the time she spends with that - - boy - - I'm beginning to forget what she looks like. But if it makes her happy,  
I'm all for it." Ami stared thoughtfully at Haruka as she said that.  
  
Noticing the odometer on Michiru's treadmill, Haruka hopped off of hers and positioned herself behind Michiru.  
  
"OK, champ, you hit your mark. Just go limp," Haruka told her.  
  
Michiru stopped and the treadmill carried her backwards. Haruka caught her and eased the green-haired woman to the floor, then began actively massaging the woman's thighs.  
  
"Ohhhhhhhh," Michiru sighed, almost orgasmicly. "That feels so good! Oh, Haruka,  
you've always had such wonderful hands!" She lolled her head back on Haruka's shoulder, as contented as a cat.  
  
Ami turned away to hide her flushing cheeks.

* * *

Lunch found Cere-Cere outside the palace, nestled in the grove of trees with her lover. Though it was a cool day, hinting at the onset of autumn, she was in the arms of her Gallan and so didn't notice the bite of the wind."You're sure you don't want part of my rice ball?" Cere-Cere asked, offering the food to him as she nestled her back against his chest. "I made them myself."  
  
"And no doubt they are wonderful," Gallan smiled indulgently, hugging her to him. "But the sun and your lovely face are all the nourishment I need."  
  
Cere-Cere smiled shyly.  
  
"Thank you for revealing yourself to Ves-Ves," Cere-Cere said. "It means a lot to me if my sisters can accept you. She seemed pretty impressed, though I think it had more to do with your physical form."  
  
"I am happy she is pleased with me. I took a physical form which I thought would be most pleasing to you. Apparently you and your sister have similar tastes."  
  
"That's really a disgusting thought," Cere-Cere frowned. She took a savage bite of her rice ball.  
  
"Here," Gallan said, holding his index finger up before her.  
  
"It's your finger," Cere-Cere said.  
  
"Taste," he prodded.  
  
Cere-Cere eyed him dubiously. Then she leaned forward and encircled the finger with her lips. Her eyes popped with surprise as he slowly drew the finger out of her mouth.  
  
"That taste!" Cere-Cere gasped happily. "Is that your nectar?"  
  
"Yes. Normally I only produce it in the spring for pollination. But this seemed a special occasion."  
  
"Oh, Gallan, you're sweet," Cere-Cere sighed, then grinned. "Literally."  
  
"As are you, my beautiful Cere-Cere," Gallan replied, leaning in to her.  
  
Cere-Cere closed her eyes and tilted her head. She felt Gallan's lips press to hers and the sparks in her heart ignited into the flames of passion she felt for him. If only they could be like this forever.  
  
From a distance, eyes watched the couple as they embraced. They were hard eyes, eyes that held no love for what they saw. But the one who possessed those eyes did not act to quell the dire feelings this scene caused within him.  
  
For Ailwoode had a plan - - a plan that would make everything right again.  
  
Continued in Chapter 7


	7. Stalked

"NATURE LOVER"  
A Neo-Sailor Moon fanfic Chapter 7: "Stalked"  
  
By Bill K.  
  
Walking down the palace corridor leading to her quarters, the senshi-in-training Cere-Cere suddenly got a tingle at the base of her spine. It was a nameless sensation, something subconscious that told her of a potential threat. But when she turned around, nothing was there. The first time she had this feeling and found nothing, she cursed herself for her stupidity. Cere-Cere didn't do that now.  
  
The door hissed closed behind her and she leaned against it. Only Palla-Palla was present in the room and she was occupied with a vid of "Yumi-chan's Toyshop". Cere-Cere couldn't tell if it was a new one or the same one that Palla-Palla had seen seventy times and at that moment didn't care. Sensing her presence, Palla-Palla turned to her sister.  
  
"Palla-Palla," Cere-Cere began nervously, "do you sense anyone else besides us?"  
  
Palla-Palla went blank for a moment. "No. She only senses your thoughts. Why are you so worried, Cere-Cere?"  
  
"I don't know," she sighed, sliding into a chair and propping her elbows onto a desk. "It's just that for the last few days I've gotten this feeling of . . . oh, it's stupid!"  
  
"You think someone's following you?" Palla-Palla asked.  
  
"You read that?"  
  
"Yes. Palla-Palla is getting better at reading your thoughts."  
  
"I'm not sure how thrilled I am about that," Cere-Cere muttered.  
  
"Don't worry," Palla-Palla smiled innocently. "When Palla-Palla comes to thoughts about Mister Gallan-sir, she closes her eyes."  
  
"Good thing," smirked Cere-Cere. "You're too young for that stuff." She huffed out a sigh. "So am I crazy?"  
  
"Palla-Palla can't hear anyone else's thoughts," her sister offered. "But she doesn't think you're crazy. There's all sorts of things Palla-Palla doesn't know. But if somebody is following you, just ask and Palla-Palla will do all she can to help."  
  
"Thanks," Cere-Cere said meekly.  
  
Palla-Palla returned to "Yumi-chan's Toyshop" and cackled as Yumi and Tree-san traded jokes. Cere-Cere thought about her problem. If she wasn't crazy then someone was following her. But who and why? Was some guy in the palace stalking her? Her natural beauty had attracted the unwanted advances of several males in the palace, some of them even her own age. Was she being stalked now? Or was it something else? But what? Who would have it in for her enough to stalk her?  
  
Absently Cere-Cere focused on the vid. Yumi-chan was listening attentively as Tree-san told a story. Suddenly her thoughts sprang to life.  
  
"Tree," she mumbled.

- - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - -

One of the characteristics of her second sight was the ability to anticipate a visit. Rarely was Rei Hino caught unaware when someone stopped by to call. In fact only Queen Serenity herself could "sneak up" on Rei's psychic radar. So when Usa entered the shrine, Rei was already out of her office and there to greet her.  
  
"Hi, Usa," Rei smiled, for visits from her favorite (and only) "niece" were special occasions.  
  
"Hi, Aunt Rei," Usa murmured. Rei's smile faded.  
  
"What's wrong, honey?"  
  
"Oh, too many things to name," the girl sighed.  
  
"Then just name one," Rei said, putting her arm around the girl. "I'm used to listening to people's troubles."  
  
"Well," Usa replied glumly, "maybe you can help with one." She pulled out some folded up sheet music. Rei took it and looked it over. "I've been trying to write a really soulful ballad. I'm satisfied with the lyrics, but all the music I write to them seems so shallow and immature. Can you make any suggestions?"  
  
"Maybe," Rei replied, looking the work over. "I'll need to hear it, though. You mind if I play it to hear what it sounds like?"  
  
"Sure," Usa nodded.  
  
The two adjourned to the practice room behind the palace theater where a grand piano was stored. Rei sat down behind the keyboard and set the sheet music before her while Usa watched. She'd always admired Rei's musical talent as much as that of her more famous Aunt Minako. Rei and Minako's tastes and styles were night and day, but Usa always felt that Rei was Minako's equal musically.  
  
The priest began playing and immediately Usa noted how much more powerfully Rei played than she did. Her keyboard work was more dynamic and self-assured, knowing when to be quiet and when to be dramatic. The music sounded better when Rei played it than when she did, but Usa noticed she was still dissatisfied with it. After a one chorus run-through, Rei played the music again, singing the lyrics with her resonant, haunting voice. It was a thrill hearing her words framed in Rei's rich tones.  
  
"The music's not bad," Rei said. Usa knew her Aunt Rei wouldn't sugarcoat her feelings about the work. That's why she trusted Rei's opinion. "Though I can see why you might not be satisfied. If you're looking for more seriousness and gravity in the song, you could try a lower key."  
  
"OK, I could try that," Usa nodded.  
  
"But don't go too low. You don't want to be depressing. You might also simplify the bridge so the power of the chorus isn't covered up." She seemed to observe Usa as if for the first time. "These are some heavy lyrics. Are they about anyone in particular?"  
  
Usa shrugged cryptically.  
  
"Have you shown this to Hotaru yet?" Rei asked, then quickly added. "Silly question. You two share practically everything - - except maybe boyfriends."  
  
"Yeah," Usa replied softly. Rei's eyes were glued to the girl the entire time.  
  
"Anything you'd like to talk about?" Rei asked.  
  
"No," Usa replied, suddenly uncomfortable. "I got to go anyway. But I will try your suggestions."  
  
"Hope they work," Rei offered to the teen as she exited.  
  
Long after the girl had left, the priest stared after her pensively. That was the trouble with being psychic. A lot of the time people were afraid to open up around you, for fear that you'd see too much. As a result, it didn't let you help someone who really seemed to need it without pushing and risking offending. It was a problem Rei had grappled with for a thousand years and she didn't like it anymore now than she did when she was eight.  
  
Still, if what she thought she saw in Usa was correct, there was something she could do if she was cautious enough.  
- - - - - - - - - - - - - -

Ami entered her office despite her promise to Makoto not to do so. She wasn't going to work. She was just going to check on some late reports, scan the patient logs from the previous night of all the city hospitals and make some quick notations - - and maybe do a quick look at the lab results for the new test drug for Cystomyotheosis B.  
  
That was all. To her surprise, though, when she entered the office, someone was there.  
  
"Hotaru?" Ami gaped. The young girl turned to her from the computer screen. Ami could see she was highlighting key passages from the lab report for Ami's benefit. "It's Sunday. What are you doing here?"  
  
"I just had a few things I wanted to finish," Hotaru said. "This report on the test drug for Cystomyotheosis B is amazing - - the parts I understood. It seems like the results are very encouraging."  
  
Ami crossed over to the girl and put her hand on Hotaru's shoulder.  
  
"Well I appreciate your enthusiasm and dedication," Ami smiled. "But it's Sunday. Wouldn't you much rather be out with your friends?"  
  
"Well, Yutaka's helping his dad with some maintenance," Hotaru offered.  
  
"What about Usa?"  
  
"Usa's in the practice room behind the stage. I think she's working on a song." Hotaru grew uncomfortable. "I didn't want to disturb her."  
  
"That is very considerate," Ami began, then sat down next to Hotaru. She looked down,  
seeming to gather her thoughts and emotions, then looked at the girl again. "Hotaru, don't think I'm not grateful for your assistance. I am. And I want to encourage your passion for the medical arts. I think you're going to make a fine doctor someday if you keep working hard."  
  
Hotaru smiled, though she was perplexed at where this was leading.  
  
"But you've been here every day this week," Ami continued. "And practically every day for the last three weeks. Hotaru, it's all right to take time off from work and study to be with your friends and have fun. That's a lesson the queen taught me a long time ago and it's a very valuable lesson."  
  
"But Usa and the asteroids understand I want to be a doctor some day," Hotaru said.  
  
"Well, they're very nice girls and they want you to be happy," Ami told her. "Perhaps you and they are both forgetting how happy you are with them, too. Just hanging out with your friends can be as beneficial to the human mind as learning. It's not logical, but happiness isn't always about logic. Neither is friendship."  
  
"You make it sound like we're drifting apart," Hotaru said with a touch of uncertainty.  
  
"I would hope that would be an overstatement," Ami countered. "But sadly the possibility exists. And isn't it strange you came to that conclusion." Ami studied the emotions on Hotaru's face while the young girl looked down with guilt. "When I was a girl, there was this boy. We were friends and it could have been more. But before it could become more, he had to leave. We met again later in life and we were still friendly, but the bond we had wasn't there anymore. I don't know where it went exactly - - I guess being apart meant we took differing paths without knowing the path the other one was taking. And without knowing it, we were soon miles apart - - figuratively speaking as well as literally."  
  
Hotaru looked down.  
  
"But it doesn't have to happen that way. I never drifted away from Usagi because she never let me drift away. There were many times when she dragged me to the mall, times I would rather have been studying. But in the end it was better that she did it, because it renewed those bonds of friendship and gave me a chance to play. If she and I had taken those bonds for granted,  
they might not have always been there - - just as it wasn't with Urawa-kun."  
  
Hotaru digested this. "You think I've been neglecting Usa?"  
  
"Only you and she can accurately answer that. But I think she might not object to an audience while she's wrestling with her song," Ami said. "Particularly if you're the audience. And you might just benefit, too, even if it's just the joy of sharing in your friend's triumph. But you won't share that or anything else with her if you're cooped up in this office for sixty percent of your week. Hotaru, there's a time for work, a time for love and a time for being with friends and family. Devoting excessive time to one cheats you on the other two."  
  
"I get the message, Mizuno-san," Hotaru said. "I'll try not to be such a workaholic in the future."  
  
"Believe me, it's a trap you can very easily fall into."  
  
After Hotaru left, Ami took a few minutes to skim over the highlighted sections of the report. Nodding to herself, the doctor left her office and descended to the floor below in the palace. Turning into the shrine, she walked up to the waiting priest.  
  
"You were right," Ami nodded to her. "I didn't expect to find out so soon, though."  
  
"And?" Rei asked expectantly.  
  
"Mission accomplished," smiled Ami.  
  
"I knew I could count on you," Rei smiled back.

* * *

One of the queen's favorite duties fell every afternoon at four. That's when she went into the palace orphanage for story time. Selecting a story from her vast and very old collection of actual books printed on actual paper dating back from the twentieth and twenty-first centuries,  
she would gather the children around her and read to them as she had for nearly a thousand years. And no matter their ages, the children always seemed to want to gather and listen. Serenity assumed it was because she had a wonderful collection of storybooks.  
  
Gathered today in a circle around her, Serenity's audience of three sat and looked at her eagerly. On one side was little five-year-old Junichi. On the other side was eight-year-old Kunihiko. And in the middle was fifteen-year-old Palla-Palla.  
  
"Aren't you a little old for this?" Kunihiko asked pointedly.  
  
"Palla-Palla likes the way the queen tells stories," Palla-Palla replied.  
  
"Don't let 'hiko-kun make fun of you, Big Sister," Junichi told her, his eyes glaring at Kunihiko. "He's just mean."  
  
"Now, now, children, don't fight," Serenity gently admonished as she glided in, storybook in hand, and sat down on a low stool so she was level with the children. "I'll read stories to anyone who wants to listen to them. Their age doesn't matter."  
  
"If anybody's too old around here, it's 'hiko-kun," huffed Junichi. "He should leave Big Sister alone."  
  
"Well, you're right about one thing," Serenity began playfully. "Kunihiko is very mature. I'm sure he only stays because he knows I love having big, strong, handsome men around me." Kunihiko flushed slightly, while Palla-Palla smothered a grin.  
  
The story was a charming and simple tale about a dot that rejects a line for a complex squiggle, only to learn that the simple looking line was the deeper and more reliable companion. The children sat enraptured by the queen and her spirited reading of the story. They marveled at the illustrations in the book, even though they were simple geometric patterns interacting. And when she finished, Palla-Palla squealed and clapped with delight while the two boys beamed at the happy ending. With that, Serenity kissed the two boys on the head and sent them off,  
Kunihiko to play while Junichi was off to his nap. Only then did she notice Palla-Palla lingering.  
  
"Was there something else, Palla-Palla?" Serenity asked.  
  
"Yes, Serenity-mama," Palla-Palla admitted, for the queen had long ago granted Palla-Palla permission to call her "Serenity-mama" in private. She hesitated. "Palla-Palla is worried about Cere-Cere."  
  
"What's wrong with Cere-Cere?"  
  
"Cere-Cere thinks someone is following her," Palla-Palla began. As she spoke, her fear seemed to grow. "And Palla-Palla thinks it might be true. And Palla-Palla doesn't want anything to happen to her big sister. Even though her sister calls her 'baby' all the time, she loves Cere-Cere a lot and she doesn't want anything bad to happen to her."  
  
"Palla-Palla, calm down please," Serenity cooed, kneeling down to the girl. "Who's following Cere-Cere?"  
  
"Palla-Palla doesn't know! But Cere-Cere told her so this morning and she wouldn't lie about something like that! Palla-Palla's been trying to sense anyone who might be following her sister, but she can't find anyone. Can you help, Serenity-mama?"  
  
"I'll do anything I can, Palla-Palla," Serenity smiled. "I don't want to see Cere-Cere hurt anymore than you do. Let me just check where she is now."  
  
The queen went blank for a moment as she reached out with her phenomenal abilities. After a moment she found the girl in the grove of trees behind the palace with her sister Jun-Jun. They seemed to be staring at one tree in particular. A moment later, Gallan materialized from the tree and seemed to introduce himself to the startled and amazed amazon. Seeing Palla-Palla was still worried, the queen reached out and touched her index finger to the girl's forehead. This transmitted the mental picture into her mind and Palla-Palla relaxed visibly.  
  
"Well, she's safe for now," Serenity smiled. "That's something good. Do you know if Cere-Cere has anyone who's angry with her?"  
  
"Just Ves-Ves," Palla-Palla replied meekly. "But they're always angry with each other."  
  
"Well, has there been a boy who's been really interested in Cere-Cere lately - - like he might like her?"  
  
"Just her boyfriend, Mr. Gallan-sir," Palla-Palla replied.  
  
"That's the one in the picture," Serenity said. "My, he is a cute one. If I were a thousand years younger," and Serenity shook herself.  
  
"But Mr. Gallan-sir wouldn't hurt Cere-Cere."  
  
"I'm sure you're right." She grasped Palla-Palla by the shoulders. "How does this sound? I'll go and talk to Ami and Rei and Mako-chan and Mina-chan and we'll make sure nothing happens to Cere-Cere. Does that sound like a good idea?"  
  
Palla-Palla nodded enthusiastically, so much so that the balls dangling from her headband whipped back and forth against her shoulders.  
  
"That's good," Serenity smiled. She kissed Palla-Palla on the forehead. "Now you run along and don't worry, OK?"  
  
Palla-Palla grinned, nodded and scampered off. When she was gone, Serenity moved to the window. From there, she could see Cere-Cere, Jun-Jun and Gallan. Her brow knit wondering what could possibly be threatening two beings so obviously in love.

* * *

In the wings of the practice room behind the stage, Hotaru stood and listened to her friend sing. The voice of the princess filled the room with the melancholy of the song. It was a ballad of loneliness, of loss. It was a ballad of losing something precious, of not knowing how to recover it and of the pain and hopelessness of that realization. It was mature beyond the years of a mere fifteen-year-old, speaking in song of a subject someone her age shouldn't ever be familiar with, but in reality knew only too well. The music tore gaping holes in Hotaru's chest, causing raw emotion to spill out from her onto the floor. She watched her friend exorcize the loss she had been suppressing the only way available to her. It moved her.  
  
The song climaxed powerfully, then just faded down to a few lightly played notes and an end. Usa rested her hands on the keyboard for a few moments, drained emotionally by the performance. When she looked up, Hotaru was standing beside the piano.  
  
"That was about us, wasn't it?" Hotaru asked.  
  
"I," Usa began, then stopped. She couldn't lie. Could she tell the truth?  
  
"I guess I started taking our friendship for granted," Hotaru continued. "I've been so wrapped up with my parents being back and my new part-time job and Yutaka. I had all these wonderful new things happen to me and I just took it for granted that you'd always be there for me. But I forgot that if I'm supposed to be your friend, I have to be there for you, too."  
  
"I understood," Usa offered.  
  
"I know you did. I didn't understand. I forgot how horrible it is to be lonely. I forgot who rescued me from that because she knew exactly what I'd gone through. I figured we could just pick up where we left off anytime I wanted. I was being thoughtless."  
  
"I'm not mad at you," Usa said sympathetically.  
  
"I know," Hotaru sniffed. "I'm mad at me."  
  
The two friends fell into a joyful hug.  
  
"Oh, Usa, I'm sorry. I've been so wrapped up in me that I forgot about you. I've been a terrible friend. But that's going to change. Are you free today - - or any day? Name the day and we'll spend it together, doing anything you want."  
  
"You don't have to do that."  
  
"Yes I do - - because I've missed it, too. I've just been too dense to notice."  
  
"Well," Usa began, "you're sure?"  
  
"Name it - - we'll do it."  
  
"There is a holo-vid I wanted to go to," Usa began. "But you've probably already seen it with Yutaka."  
  
"I'll see it again," Hotaru shrugged. "And afterwards maybe we can go shopping?"  
  
"Well I am 'comped' pretty much everywhere," Usa smiled self-consciously. "And maybe grab a pizza?"  
  
"At our favorite place," Hotaru said. "My mouth's watering already."  
  
"You talked me into it," Usa grinned.  
  
"Good," beamed Hotaru. "Because I want to hear all the gossip I've been missing."  
  
"I don't know why," Usa said as the two young friends headed for the door. "Most of it's about you."  
  
Continued in Chapter 8


	8. The Root Of The Matter

"NATURE LOVER"  
A Neo-Sailor Moon fanfic

Chapter 8: "The Root Of The Matter"  
  
By Bill K.  
  
Casually the two teen girls walked from the grove of trees behind the palace to the palace gates themselves. Jun-Jun looked over at her sister pensively. Cere-Cere still glowed from her conversation with Gallan. Now that Gallan had revealed himself to her, Jun-Jun could understand why Cere-Cere was so obsessed with him. Sure Gallan was completely and utterly beautiful, but he was also gentle and caring and very brilliant. She was glad for Cere-Cere. However, she was human enough to experience a moment's envy over her sister's good fortune. She glanced over at Cere-Cere with some guilt.  
  
But as she looked, Jun-Jun noticed her sister's euphoria begin to dim as the gravity of her situation returned to her thoughts. Her sister had asked her to accompany her out to Gallan's tree. At first she wouldn't say why, but when pressed Cere-Cere admitted that she was afraid. She feared Gallan's brother tree spirit Ailwoode was stalking her and planned her harm. Listening to her sister confess her fears to Gallan was tough. The girl's apprehension melted into gratitude when Gallan had been very understanding and supportive, despite the accusation against his own brother.  
  
Boy, Jun-Jun really wished she could meet a guy like him!  
  
"Thanks for coming with me," Cere-Cere whispered.  
  
"No problem." Jun-Jun walked quietly for a few paces. "What's this Ailwoode's deal anyway?"  
  
"According to Gallan, he doesn't like humans." Cere-Cere shrugged. "Knowing our history as a race, I guess he's got his reasons."  
  
"Hasn't he met the queen?" Jun-Jun asked.  
  
They walked on for a few paces.  
  
"Can't you just use your control of plants to tell him to leave you alone?" Jun-Jun asked.  
  
"I'm not sure I could," Cere-Cere told her. "Usually plants are very passive and agreeable when I ask things of them. But tree spirits are very powerful entities and if they take a dislike to you, they can be very willful." She walked on. "Besides, it might insult Gallan."  
  
"But you can't live your life like this," Jun-Jun replied. "Always suspicious of your surroundings, always wondering if he's going to strike - - you can't spend the rest of your life with a bodyguard."  
  
"Gallan said he'd try to talk to him." Cere-Cere clenched her fists. "If only he could see! I love Gallan so much, Jun! I'd do anything to make him happy! I'd never hurt him! I couldn't!"  
  
"Maybe we should go to the queen," suggested Jun-Jun. "She's pretty good at getting people to see things her way."  
  
"I couldn't drag the queen into this!" gasped Cere-Cere.  
  
"OK, well how about the princess. She's not too bad with that wand, you know. And she can be pretty charming, too."  
  
"Maybe," Cere-Cere said. "If things don't improve. I know I've got to do something. There's not much time left."  
  
"Why, what's coming?" Jun-Jun asked.  
  
"Fall."

* * *

Usa and Hotaru met in the corridor by the main throne room of the palace. Usa was, as usual, dressed very audaciously. She wore a white form-fitting body-suit with pink high-heel boots and a pink sash, and the stencil of a roaring tsunami emblazoned on the upper part of the suit. The suit, nicknamed a 'thirtieth century kimono' by some wags, both accentuated the curving lines of the girl's increasingly womanly figure and, using the placement of the tsunami picture, minimized attention to the bust-line beneath it. Copies of the suit sold for high sums, but the designer had presented it to the princess as a gift.  
  
Hotaru's tastes were still stuck in the twentieth century. She had opted for a short-sleeve royal blue dress with a high collar, knee length hem and a slim black belt to gather the dress at her slim waist. White stockings, blue low heel shoes and conservative gold earrings given to her by her actual father, Dr. Tomoe, the year before he was possessed completed the ensemble. Anticipation of their night out brought smiles to the faces of both young girls.  
  
"Usa!" gasped Hotaru. "You look so beautiful!"  
  
"It's the suit," Usa shrugged modestly. "You look nice, too."  
  
"This old thing? It probably stands out like anything in today's fashions."  
  
"Well, we're going shopping after the holovid," Usa shrugged. "We can pick out a few new outfits for you."  
  
"I'm not sure I'd be comfortable in something that revealing," Hotaru said uneasily.  
  
"Why not?"  
  
"I don't have your 'assets'," Hotaru replied.  
  
"So what? Just because my chest is bigger than yours doesn't mean you don't have anything. Hotaru, news-flash - - a lot of guys think you're hot."  
  
Hotaru shrunk into herself.  
  
"If you want, we can make the suit basic black," Usa added sharply.  
  
"Don't start," Hotaru replied, her eyes twinkling. "At least I don't remind people of a walking piece of bubblegum."  
  
Usa's mouth screwed up into a smirk. The two eyed each other, then broke into giggles. Exiting the turbolift onto the ground floor of the palace, the pair ran into Yutaka.  
  
"Hi, Hotaru," he said breathlessly, smiling.  
  
"Hi, Yutaka, she replied tenderly.  
  
"Um, are you doing anything tonight?"  
  
Hotaru glanced at Usa. Silently the princess indicated that if Hotaru wanted to switch companions for the evening, she'd understand. Hotaru turned back to the boy she was growing more fond of each day.  
  
"I'd love to," she said, "but I can't. Usa and I had plans for tonight and I really owe it to her to go. You understand, don't you?"  
  
"Yeah, sure," Yutaka said, unable to conceal his disappointment. "Guess I can't have you every night. How about tomorrow night?"  
  
Hotaru grimaced. "I sort of promised Michiru-mama I'd help her that night." Noting Yutaka's disappointment, she quickly added, "but I'm free the night after!"  
  
"You are?" he asked, encouraged. "You want to go out?"  
  
"Sure," Hotaru smiled.  
  
"OK, I'll see you then." Then Yutaka took Hotaru's hand. "I'll, um, try to survive the heartache of our separation."  
  
Hotaru grinned. "What book did you read that out of?"  
  
"This new novel I'm reading," Yutaka admitted sheepishly. Hotaru leaned in and kissed his cheek, then headed for the door. Usa followed as Yutaka watched them leave.  
  
"You know, if you really want to be with him," Usa began.  
  
"No," Hotaru said. "There's no need to be noble, Usa. This isn't a duty. This is spending some time with my best friend. I get as much good out of it as you do."  
  
"Admit it, you'd rather be with him."  
  
"Well, most nights - - just like all the nights you wanted to spend your time with Helios instead of me - - right?"  
  
"Right," Usa confessed, flushing.  
  
"Well, tonight is a 'no boys' night. Now stop feeling guilty and let's have fun!"  
  
"Yes, ma'am!" nodded Usa. Together the two friends headed for the theater on the promenade.

* * *

It was ten p.m. Three of the four asteroid senshi were asleep in their rooms. Only Ves-Ves was awake and she was out on the town. Cere-Cere slept quietly in her room, free for a few hours of the grip her growing conflict with Ailwoode had on her mind. The pretty young girl dreamed of pleasant days in fields of fresh grass, the air scented with the smell of hyacinth in spring. The sun shone down warmly on her as she reclined in the meadow. She felt secure. Only glades and meadows made her feel secure anymore, ever since the loss of her parents. Only they made her feel warm and safe and carefree.  
  
She lolled in the verdant meadow, absorbing the light as the plants did and growing strong from it. Nothing could disturb her mood - - until a hand clasped her shoulder.  
  
Waking with a start, Cere-Cere looked around the dimly lit room. Her eyes came to rest on a spirit backing away from her, a spirit who had touched her in the waking world and interrupted her blissful dream.  
  
"What are you doing in my room?" Cere-Cere hissed as she glared at Ailwoode. Ailwoode glared back dolefully.  
  
"So you seek to turn my brother against me now?" the tree spirit charged. His voice lacked any storm of emotion. It was cold, contemptuous, secure in its owner's belief of his superior position.  
  
"All we want is to be in love," Cere-Cere countered. "If you listened to what he said to you, you'd know that."  
  
"You are a human," he sneered. "There's nothing more to be said." He turned to pass through the wall.  
  
"When are you going to leave us alone? Gallan doesn't need you to think for him!"  
  
"You wish an end to this?" Ailwoode asked, turning to her disdainfully. "Come outside,  
on the side opposite the grove."  
  
"Why?" Cere-Cere asked suspiciously.  
  
"Because I am a creature of nature," Ailwoode scowled. "Not a pet plant raised in a hothouse to lick my human captor's palm. I detest not feeling the sky above or the Earth beneath me. Face me outside, if you truly believe the florid words you speak."  
  
Ailwoode passed through the wall and was gone. Cere-Cere sat up on the edge of the bed and thought. She didn't really want to face Ailwoode alone. On the other hand, she desperately wanted an end to this, for she and Gallan were running out of time. She wanted their remaining time to be good time.  
  
"Be with me in spirit, Gallan," Cere-Cere whispered as she gestured for her henshin stick. "I'm doing this for us."  
  
The crunch of boots on the ground alerted Ailwoode to her presence. The angular tree spirit turned and found not the human Cere-Cere walking toward him, but the senshi Sailor Ceres.  
  
"So you choose to face me as a warrior," Ailwoode said. "How typical of your kind."  
  
"It doesn't matter what I'm wearing," Ceres answered him, "I'm still the same girl who loves your brother. But if this is going to be a confrontation, I thought I'd better be prepared."  
  
"I will tell you again - - renounce my brother and leave him alone."  
  
"Why do you hate me so much?" wailed Ceres.  
  
"Because you're a human," Ailwoode replied sharply. "Because your kind are destructive and evil and have always been so! Because like greedy children you take and use and destroy and never give back! Because you seek to control, to own your environment instead of exist within it! And woe to any who are in the way of you getting what you want!"  
  
"You're judging everyone by the acts of a few! We're not all like that!"  
  
"You are! Some simply have the means to commit their atrocities against nature on a grander scale. Humans use and use until they suck something dry, then they toss it away and move on to their next victim. But you will not use my dear brother that way! You will not ruin him to satisfy your petty human desires!"  
  
"What can I do to make you see we love each other?" Ceres howled. "How can I prove to you that I'd rather cut my own throat than hurt Gallan! I love him!"  
  
"You're human," Ailwoode replied coldly. "You're not capable." His eyes narrowed. "But there is a way."  
  
Ceres instantly got a chill from the way he spoke and the expression on his face. She tensed for an attack.  
  
Ailwoode gestured at her and she flinched, but no attack came from him. An instant later, though, she discovered the reason for his action. A supple branch of the tree behind her reached out and wrapped around her throat. Caught by surprise, Ceres reached up and clutched at the branch, seeking to tear it from her windpipe. At Ailwoode's behest, though, two more branches reached out and wrapped around her wrists, then pulled them out away from her body.  
  
"There is only one sure way to prevent you from harming my brother," Ailwoode spoke with an eerie calm, "and not crush him. I considered killing you, but you have woven your spell around him too well and Gallan would be devastated by your death."  
  
Ceres stared wildly at him as she strained to pull free.  
  
"Thus I have concluded that you will not turn on my brother," Ailwoode continued, "if you are made to be of his kind."  
  
And the limbs began pulling Ceres toward the trunk of the tree. Ceres' searched her mind. She had read stories, legends of humans being assimilated into barren trees that housed no tree spirit. Once assimilated, they died and became the spirit of that tree.  
  
And that was what Ailwoode meant for her.  
  
Digging her feet into the ground, Ceres momentarily halted her progress. Flexing the muscles of her delicate throat, she strained to speak. Her only weapon now was her power phrase. If she couldn't say it, she was doomed to death and rebirth. Her chest burned as she strained.  
  
"Why do you resist?" Ailwoode asked. "You will be with the one you supposedly love - -  
and you will be a better life form for it!"  
  
"Floral - - stimulation," she choked out softly.  
  
Around Ailwoode's feet a circle of green tendrils sprang up. Plants and vines of every kind, growing inches a second, wound up around the tree spirit before he could move. They encircled his body, winding tightly as they reached for the slim light of the moon. Though they dimly sensed the kinship of the tree spirit, they nevertheless eagerly obeyed the siren call of Sailor Ceres.  
  
As the growth tightened around Ailwoode, his manipulation of the tree faltered. With a desperate lunge, Ceres was able to pull free of it. The girl fell to the ground on her knees, her chest heaving as it tried to regain lost oxygen. All the while her limbs shook from the adrenaline rush her brush with danger gave her.  
  
"You're," she gasped out, staring at Ailwoode in betrayal. "Are you insane? Do you think Gallan would just accept making me into a tree spirit and be happy?"  
  
"He needs to be protected!" railed Ailwoode as he struggled against the binding vines. "He needs the love and protection of his own kind!"  
  
"What happened to make you this way?" growled Sailor Ceres. "What caused your soul to be so evil and unforgiving? You're so blind that you can't even see how happy Gallan is!"  
  
With that, Ailwoode gave a mighty flex to his muscles and the growing vines and flowers snapped and fell away. Ceres flinched at hearing the screams of the sundered plants. Ailwoode looked around at the broken plants, deeply stricken.  
  
"Curse you," he muttered in anguish. "Involve a human and a plant will surely die. What more evidence do I need of the danger Gallan is in?"  
  
His hands flew up to regain control of the barren tree. Instantly Ceres whirled and faced the tree herself.  
  
"Floral Stimulation!" she called out.  
  
The two forces struggled for control of the tree. Two minds battled, their siren calls competing for dominance over the barren tree. Caught in the middle, the tree swayed one way and then another, unable to obey the conflicting commands from two irresistible voices.  
  
Ceres focused everything she had on the tree. Ailwoode's power was strong. She didn't dare let up even for an instant. She began to feel the strain of what she was doing through her chest, through her shoulders and neck, across her forehead. She was locked in a tug-of-war with Ailwoode. She couldn't budge him and every moment the contest took her mind wondered when she would slip and let him win. Desperately she clung to her attempt. She had to succeed. She had to. Her sister's depended on her. They needed her.  
  
And Gallan - - she had to hang on for Gallan's sake. The thought of never touching him again drove her on. She had to prevent it at all costs. Gallan meant too much to her.  
  
A movement caught Ceres' attention. Suddenly she realized Ailwoode was directly behind her.  
  
Instantly Palla-Palla's eyes snapped open. A cold grip of fear closed around her heart. Moved by utter terror, the girl flung herself out of bed and scampered across the hall to her sister's room. The door opened and she peered in fearfully. Cere-Cere's bed was empty.  
  
"What?" Jun-Jun asked, jostled into a groggy waking. "Palla-Palla?"  
  
"Jun-Jun, hurry!" wailed Palla-Palla, on the verge of tears. "Something bad's happened!"  
  
"What?" Jun-Jun asked, her consciousness brought to focus by her sister's urgency. "What is it?"  
  
"It's Cere-Cere! She's gone! Something bad's happened!"

* * *

In a youth clothing boutique, the princess and her best friend were looking over a collection of outfits. One in particular - - a molded flexible body-stocking of artificial red, gold and green leather with a flaring red skirt and audacious four-inch heels - - had caught the eye of the princess.  
  
"Usa, I could NEVER wear anything like that!" Hotaru gasped in mortified horror.  
  
"Why not?" whined her friend, for she had listened to Hotaru reject seven different outfits in the past forty minutes for exactly the same reason.  
  
"It's so," Hotaru struggled, "loud!"  
  
"It's aggressive, sure. It's OK to be aggressive occasionally. Save this for some night when Yutaka's beginning to lose interest."  
  
"U-SAAAAAA!" flushed Hotaru.  
  
"Well, Hotaru, you got to grow up sometime! You're fifteen! Part of the fun of being fifteen is that you don't have to dress like a kid ALL the time."  
  
"But this?" she asked, looking askance at the outfit.  
  
"Well, pick out something you do like!"  
  
"I'm sorry, Usa. I'm spoiling our time together, aren't I?"  
  
"Nah," Usa grinned, her pink ponytails bobbing behind her shoulders. "Being with you is always a blast. Even trying to drag you into adulthood is fun. I hadn't really realized how much I'd missed it." The girls clasped hands affectionately. Then Usa turned and pointed to a sleeveless black tube mini-dress with fishnet stockings and boots. "Oh, that's you!"  
  
"Usa, I," Hotaru began, then stopped and really looked at the ensemble. "Well . . . maybe . . ."  
  
At the same instant, Usa and Hotaru heard their portable vid-links signal. Each girl brought out the communication device and engaged it. To each girl's surprise, Juno appeared on both links.  
  
"Princess! Hotaru! We've got an emergency!" Juno told them frantically. "Cere-Cere's in trouble!"  
  
"Got it," Usa nodded. "We're on our way."  
  
The two girls took a moment to exchange pensive glances, then left the boutique at a full run.  
  
When Sailor Moon and Sailor Saturn arrived, the scene was beyond words to describe the horror. Palla-Palla was on the ground, wailing as if she were being tortured. Juno just stared in shock and revulsion at a tree near the palace. No enemy could be found, nor could any trace of Cere-Cere be seen. Renewed urgency lent their feet added speed and they closed the distance between them and the asteroid senshi. It was only when they were about ten feet away that Saturn grabbed Sailor Moon's arm in shock.  
  
"Sailor Moon!" Saturn gasped. "The tree!"  
  
Sailor Moon already saw it. The tree's trunk was different. Two short branches now curled down in circles, forming rings on either side. And the bark was etched into a face.  
  
And the face was that of Sailor Ceres.  
  
And the face screamed silently.  
  
Continued in Chapter 9 


	9. Poisoned Oak

"NATURE LOVER"  
A Neo-Sailor Moon fanfic

Chapter 9: "Poisoned Oak"  
  
By Bill K.  
  
Spurred by the sudden sense of dread that seized her, Queen Serenity put down her book (it was "Stone Soup" - - she loved her collection of children's books just as much as her adoptive children did), got up out of her chair and left the room. Moments later Endymion peered in,  
expecting Serenity to be there. When he found she wasn't, he followed his senses, too.  
  
"Your Majesty?" Luna asked, finding Serenity out in the corridors of the palace. Diana was with Luna and equally perplexed. "What are you doing roaming about at this hour? Is something wrong?"  
  
"I," Serenity began, obviously torn between speaking to Luna and following the sensation she had. "Um, I felt something just now."  
  
"Indeed? Can you describe it?"  
  
"It was a - - a momentary flash of - - of horror." The urge to follow the sensation overpowered the queen and she went off down the hall. Luna and Diana bounded off after her.  
  
"Do you know from whom?" Luna asked.  
  
"It wasn't the Princess, was it?" Diana asked with concern.  
  
Serenity didn't answer. She entered the second floor ballroom of the palace and glided over to one of the balconies that overlooked the grounds. Luna and Diana heard her gasp in alarm. Quickly they leaped onto the railing and looked down.  
  
One of the trees below them now had a face that resembled Sailor Ceres. That face was frozen in a scream of terror.  
  
"Juno?" Sailor Moon asked.  
  
She and Sailor Saturn had arrived at the frantic summons of Sailor Juno only to find this horrific tableau. She looked at her senshi, hoping that this was some sort of fantastic ruse while she heard Saturn gasping for breath behind her. Juno only stared back helplessly. Nearby Palla-Palla sat on the ground crying like she would never see another happy day in her life. Too much was happening. Sailor Moon had to sort this out somehow.  
  
And then they heard Vesta running up. Upon seeing Ceres, Vesta stumbled to a stop. She stared, stunned, for a few moments. Then her entire body twisted in rage. She whirled on the approaching Sailor Juno.  
  
"Who did this?" Vesta hissed. "Was it Gallan?"  
  
"It must have been his brother, Ailwoode," Juno mumbled. "Ceres told me she thought he was following her - - that he was out to get her. He wanted to break them up."  
  
"Fine, I'll settle up with him later," Vesta growled. "How do we get her out?"  
  
"You can't," came a male voice behind them, a voice as light as a spring breeze rustling through leaves. But it was a voice tinged with disdain over speaking with beings he thought unworthy, and with pride at achieved victory. Vesta and Juno turned and were surprised, as were Sailor Moon and Saturn, for the wondrously beautiful form of this tree spirit was visible to them.  
  
"I am Ailwoode," he said. "I have made myself visible to your eyes. I come to you to warn you. This is the price of daring to aspire to something above your lot as scuttling,  
cancerous parasites upon the green of the Earth. Go, now, and leave the green in peace,  
humans."  
  
"What do you mean 'we can't'?" Juno asked.  
  
"Do you not comprehend your own tongue?" Ailwoode replied.  
  
"Who says 'we can't'?" Vesta demanded with a low, rumbling menace to her voice.  
  
A sneer curled Ailwoode's soft lip.  
  
"Her physical form is dead," he proclaimed, "and beyond your power. She is one of us now."  
  
Above them Endymion and Rei joined Serenity and the cats. They heard Juno's explanation. They saw and heard Ailwoode's pronouncement. Dimly aware of her presence, she turned to Rei and saw the priest horrified.  
  
"Rei?" Serenity asked.  
  
"It's true," Rei nodded softly. "A human spirit can be merged with a barren tree and become a spirit for that tree. But you have to die first."  
  
"No," Serenity shook her head emotionally. "No, that can't be!" Endymion grasped her around the arms from behind for support while Serenity stared down at the tree. Below the young senshi learned the same thing from Ailwoode.  
  
"She's dead?" Sailor Moon asked, beyond belief.  
  
"It was necessary," Ailwoode replied. Saturn could see that he seemed so contemptuous of them and of Ceres' adulterated form. It made her own anguish that much keener.  
  
"But maybe there's still a chance!" Sailor Moon pleaded. She whirled on Saturn. "Remember when Ctesias turned you into a tree! I cured you then!" Turning back to the tree,  
Sailor Moon summoned the Crescent Moon Wand.  
  
"You think there's a chance?" Juno asked.  
  
"I have to try. Moon Healing Escalation!"  
  
Pink particles poured out from the wand, bathing the tree in its radiance. The tree began to shimmer while everyone watched and held their breath. Sailor Moon struggled to keep her power flowing out through the wand and the pink crystal embedded in it. She strained hard to maintain the power flow, but in the end collapsed to her knees before the unchanged tree. Saturn knelt down beside her.  
  
"Sailor Moon?" she inquired gently.  
  
"Couldn't do it," Sailor Moon panted. "Not enough power."  
  
Above them, Serenity grimaced over her daughter's exertions and their failure.  
  
"Maybe I need to step in," she mused.  
  
"No!" Rei said quickly. "Serenity, she's gone."  
  
"But Rei!"  
  
"Your Majesty!" Luna said sharply. "You know very well the cost of attempting to resurrect the dead, even for someone of your power! I sympathize, Serenity, I do! But you must not attempt it!"  
  
Serenity's face twisted up in anguish. Surrendering to the wisdom of Luna's words, she whirled and buried her face into Endymion's chest. He held her as she cried, while Luna and Rei looked on sadly.  
  
Below, Saturn saw Sailor Moon silently begrudge herself her failure.  
  
"Sailor Moon," Saturn whispered.  
  
"Once again I wasn't good enough," Sailor Moon whispered.  
  
"Maybe you just need some help," Saturn softly suggested.  
  
Sailor Moon looked at her curiously.  
  
"Maybe if we combine our power through your pink crystal, we can do it," Saturn offered. Sailor Moon stared at her dumbfounded for a moment. Then her face brightened with the possibilities of the suggestion. She nodded and let Saturn help her up.  
  
Saturn offered her hand. Sailor Moon clasped it and, while the other senshi looked on,  
the two teens took on a glow, pink from Sailor Moon and violet from Sailor Saturn. As their brilliance reached its apex, Sailor Moon raised her wand above her head while Saturn raised her glaive.  
  
"Moon Healing Escalation!" she shouted.  
  
"No!" roared Ailwoode, starting forward.  
  
"Fauna Assimilation - - Veloceraptor!" bellowed Vesta as she blocked his path. The senshi's body mutated into a vicious ten foot dinosaur with bared razor talons and sharp teeth. It glared at Ailwoode. "One more step and I let the sap flow," she cautioned.  
  
The area was bathed in a pink light so brilliant that everyone had to look away. When it dissipated, everyone looked back. Sailor Ceres lay on the ground at the base of the tree, sleeping peacefully. Sailor Moon and Sailor Saturn stood unsteadily for a moment, then each girl collapsed. Though they were clearly drained, both girls were also clearly alive, so Sailor Juno ran to check Ceres.  
  
"Amazing," Endymion whispered from the balcony, Serenity looking back from her place in his arms.  
  
"Miraculous might be more accurate," Luna commented in awe.  
  
Below Diana joined the two fallen senshi. She perched on Sailor Moon's shoulder and licked the girl's face.  
  
"Diana," mumbled Sailor Moon. "Your tongue is so scratchy."  
  
"Oh, My Lady, you gave me such a fright!" Diana fretted.  
  
"'m OK," Sailor Moon wheezed. "Saturn?"  
  
"I'll make it," mumbled Saturn. "Feels like I just ran fifty kilometers uphill, though."  
  
"How's Ceres?" Sailor Moon asked, working up to a sitting position.  
  
"Ceres?" Juno asked, shaking the girl in an attempt to wake her. She knelt beside her sister senshi. "Come on, Ceres, don't scare me like this!"  
  
Ceres, however, remained unconscious. Then Ailwoode spoke.  
  
"She is not there to hear you," Ailwoode told them. "The power of your princess and her partner has restored her body, but the girl's spirit is still consigned to the tree. Though they surprised me by accomplishing what they did, it is all you may hope for. All they have achieved is a functioning, barren shell. So shall it remain."  
  
Palla-Palla's wailing resumed.  
  
"Then you'd better make her well!" snarled Vesta the dinosaur.  
  
"I refuse," Ailwoode replied.  
  
"I'm going to give you to the count of one."  
  
"You do not intimidate me, parasite."  
  
With lightning speed, Vesta fell backwards, balancing on her tail, and lashed out with her foot talons. Though surprised by the nine-inch razor sharp claws, Ailwoode was able to go intangible and the attack passed through him.  
  
"Your violence is useless against me," Ailwoode said. "Make your farewells and be gone,  
or the same will happen to you!"  
  
"Think I can't hurt you just because I can't touch you?" bellowed Vesta. "How about I rip up every tree in the area and turn them into splinters? One of those trees has to be yours!"  
  
"You'll die first," Ailwoode replied, his eyes flaring.  
  
"You'll try," Vesta shot back, her eyes flaring just as much.  
  
"Vesta, stop it!" Sailor Moon said, inserting herself between Vesta and Ailwoode. Vesta turned angrily on her. "You'll hurt a lot of innocent spirits that way, including Gallan. We don't do things that way."  
  
"But what about Ceres?" Vesta demanded.  
  
"We'll do what we can for her," the princess told her. "But there are certain lines we can't cross, Vesta - - remember? Not and still be thought of as the good guys."  
  
Vesta began to shake with frustration and for a moment Sailor Moon wondered if the senshi could control her volcanic temper. Finally Vesta's body sagged in defeat. She changed back into a human and turned away. Juno was there to gather her in.  
  
Undaunted by his threat, Sailor Moon turned and walked up to Ailwoode.  
  
"You speak quite wisely, for a human," Ailwoode replied, regarding her curiously. "Perhaps there is hope for your race - - someday."  
  
"I'm asking you, please," Sailor Moon began, "change her back. Free Ceres from the tree and make her human again."  
  
"What you ask cannot be granted," Ailwoode replied stonily.  
  
"Why not?" Sailor Moon persisted. "She's not a threat to you or Gallan, or anyone else! I pledge my life on that!"  
  
"The life of a human?" Ailwoode snorted.  
  
"You don't seem to think very highly of us. But how much better are you, to just move in and snuff out a girl's life like that, for no good reason?"  
  
"Her spirit resides within the tree. I have merely made her shed her human form. If anything, she is better now - - more beautiful . . ."  
  
"And if I cut your tree down," Juno piped up, glaring at Ailwoode, "and cut it up into a bench, I could say it was better and more beautiful as a bench! But it wouldn't ease your loss,  
would it?"  
  
"You humans have no one to blame but yourselves!" countered Ailwoode. "Since you first crawled up from the seas, you have done nothing but kill and maim our kind! You cut the dwellings of innocent spirits down for your furniture or your fires or because the tree inconveniences you! And you expect sympathy now? You expect me to care if one of yours expires? You expect me to stand idly by while you use my brother and then discard his empty shell when you have finished with him?"  
  
"It wouldn't have been that way!" shouted Sailor Moon.  
  
"You're humans! You know no other way!"  
  
The echo of angry voices took a few seconds to die away. In that time, the bitter feelings poisoned the area around the two parties.  
  
"And anyway," Ailwoode continued, more softly, "you cannot fuse a spirit into a body without a price."  
  
"A price?" Saturn asked.  
  
"Naturally I would have to explain this to your kind. Once gone, life's energy cannot be recaptured," Ailwoode said. "In order for your Ceres to live, another would have to provide the necessary life energy - - and die. If it were my brother, Gallan, I would gladly do it. But I would never do it for a contemptible human. Are any of you, who love her 'so much', willing to make such a sacrifice?"  
  
"Palla-Palla will," a tiny voice squeaked.  
  
"Shut up, stupid!" Vesta spat desperately.  
  
"If it meant Ceres would live again," the girl said tearfully, getting up on shaky legs,  
"Palla-Palla would do it." She walked up to Ailwoode, looking up at him with the eyes of a true innocent. "Because Ceres is Palla-Palla's sister and she loves Ceres very much. And even though Ceres calls her a baby all the time, she knows Ceres loves her, too. And Palla-Palla doesn't want Ceres to be gone. So please, Mr. Ailwoode Sir, please make Palla-Palla's sister well."  
  
Ailwoode stared down at the young girl with the balls dangling from her blue hair and the pleading innocence of her eyes. He tried to search her eyes and her expression for some sign that this was a deception. She was human and humans were not to be trusted. But humans weren't supposed to be capable of such utter innocence and lack of guile.  
  
As he searched Palla-Palla's expression, Vesta tore loose from Juno's grip and for a moment Ailwoode thought she was going to attack him. But she only went as far as to seize Palla-Palla and pull her back, shielding the girl from him with her own body. She looked back at him with angry venom. This was more what he expected from humans, but he knew somehow that the venom was inspired by her feelings for the girl and not contempt for him. Was what he saw in her so different from what he felt when Gallan was threatened by his love for the human?  
  
The tree spirit's eyes traveled from Vesta to Juno, where the anger was tempered by hope that the situation wasn't lost, that the inevitable wasn't loss of a family member. Then from Juno he met Saturn's eyes and found the incredible sadness she had over a tragedy that could have been avoided. Finally he saw in Sailor Moon's eyes her desperate need to work this situation out so that everyone was safe and happy, not just her own.  
  
Palla-Palla still looked up expectantly at him, her last wish lingering over all. Would he grant it? Could he?  
  
"Cere-Cere!" came a gasp and everyone turned to look.  
  
Sailor Moon and Sailor Saturn were instantly struck by the youth's exquisite appearance. But that admiration was tempered by sadness over what he beheld, sadness the others shared. As one their hearts went out to him, for they knew he shared their loss and could commiserate with him.  
  
And the true impact of his own tragedy struck home as Gallan knelt down next to the prone form that had once been Sailor Ceres. He picked up her hand gently in his. Gallan reached out and softly caressed her face, silently pleading with her to respond. He pressed her hand to his chest as he bent over her, waiting in vain for her to open her eyes and smile at him. A tear trickled down his cheek and Rei was amazed to learn that even a tree spirit could cry.  
  
"Cere," he whispered and even his whisper was thick with emotion. "Please, my wonderful Cere, please tell me this has not happened. Please say to me that I do not face the rest of eternity with nothing more of you than memories." His head bent down over the body of his love. "Oh, the mere thought of it is such utter desolation."  
  
"Gallan," Ailwoode said, easing up to his brother gently out of respect for his grief, "she is not lost to you. She is one of us now. She will not betray you now."  
  
"Think that a spirit of the trees is incapable of betrayal?" Gallan said through clenched teeth. "What do you call this?"  
  
"Brother!" gasped Ailwoode. "She lives! I have merely separated her from her animal self! Probe the tree!"  
  
"You probe it, 'Brother'!" snapped Gallan. "The shock of her separation, of being forced into the womb of the tree was too much for her! Her spirit may live, but it sleeps the endless sleep!" Gallan rose to his feet, naked loathing in his eyes, and faced his brother. Ailwoode retreated a step. "My love is lost to me - - lost to us all - - as lost as if you had snapped her neck!"  
  
"Brother!" Ailwoode pleaded.  
  
"She came to you," Gallan continued. "She wished nothing more from you than your blessing! She would have settled for peaceful disdain if that was all she could hope for. She was a gentle soul, Ailwoode. She loved us all - - even you. She was - - so much more than what she appeared to be. But your hatred blinded you to that."  
  
Ailwoode turned to the tree. He stared at it, curious more than anything. Then his eyes bulged with shock. His gaze whipped back to his contemptuous younger brother.  
  
"Gallan," Ailwoode pleaded desperately. "I only did what I thought was best for you."  
  
And a ball of energy exploded from Gallan. It passed harmlessly through Saturn and Sailor Moon, tracked across the lawn and struck Ailwoode square. The tree spirit was flung across the lawn and slammed against the outer wall of the palace. Ailwoode sagged against the wall, in obvious pain. It was a few moments before he could gather himself. What he saw was Gallan's piercing eyes burning with loathing for him.  
  
"Gallan," he gasped out with difficulty, "please . . .!"  
  
"No brother of mine, who claims to love me, could ever do something so heinous,"  
Gallan replied, his eyes blazing but his heart cold. "For that reason alone, you are not my brother."  
  
"Gallan," Ailwoode implored.  
  
"I dismiss you!"  
  
"Gallan, think of what we have meant . . .!"  
  
"BEGONE!" Gallan howled.  
  
Another energy bubble exploded from him and slammed Ailwoode against the wall. The spirit crumpled, fading from sight as he slumped down.  
  
"How many cruelties have been perpetrated upon the world under the banner of doing 'what we thought was best'?" Diana mused sadly.  
  
Gallan's shoulders sagged. His head bowed. He seemed rooted to the spot, bereft of movement, of anything save overwhelming grief. Sailor Moon walked over and touched his shoulder.  
  
"Gallan, I'm sorry," Sailor Moon whispered. "I wish we could have done more. We're going to miss her as much as you." She looked down. "I wish we could have met under better circumstances."  
  
"As do I," Gallan whispered. "It seems silly now - - but we are taught to hide ourselves from most humans. My Cere-Cere - - spoke highly of you."  
  
"Gallan," Sailor Moon persisted. "Maybe it's not too late. Maybe we can still do something. Saturn and I were able to bring her body back. Maybe we can bring her spirit back,  
too. We're willing to try."  
  
"My Lady," warned Diana. "I don't think that's a good idea."  
  
"Quiet, Diana!"  
  
"No, My Lady, I will not be silent! Resurrecting life is beyond your power! It's too dangerous! Even with your energies merged to Sailor Saturn's, it would still be too much for you! You can't risk it!"  
  
"What about from all five of us?" Sailor Juno asked. "If we all pitch in, maybe we can do it."  
  
"No," Gallan said, shaking his head sadly. "Your offer is greatly appreciated, but I fear it would only succeed in taking one or more of you without bringing back my love."  
  
"Well we can't just - - leave her like this," Vesta protested feebly.  
  
"No," Gallan said, his face suddenly hardened with resolve, "we can't. It must be done. She must be made whole again."  
  
"But that's still going to mean one of us has to die, doesn't it?" Saturn asked.  
  
"A sacrifice must be made," nodded Gallan. "Let it be me. For a world without the light of my beautiful Cere-Cere is a world I can no longer endure. Let it be me."  
  
Concluded in Chapter 10


	10. Germination

"NATURE LOVER"  
A Neo-Sailor Moon fanfic

Chapter 10: "Germination"  
  
By Bill K.  
  
Gallan, the tree spirit who dared to love a human, had just shocked everyone who could hear him, from Sailor Moon and her senshi to King Endymion and Queen Serenity watching with Rei and Luna from above. His love, Cere-Cere, lay before him, her spirit cleaved from her body and merged to a tree. Though the body lived and the spirit slept comatose, reuniting them would take a great deal of spirit energy and cost the being supplying it his or her life. Gallan, pronouncing his own death sentence, volunteered.  
  
"Gallan," Sailor Moon quickly said, to the pride of her parents, "isn't there another way? Can't each of us combine our energies and revive her without risking any of us?"  
  
The tree spirit bowed his head. "I wish it could be true. Life is a delicate thing. Nature demands balance. If Mother Earth is to give back one from the circle, she will want one in exchange."  
  
"But . . .!" Sailor Moon began.  
  
"Your noble effort in trying to spare me speaks highly of you," Gallan smiled. "I begin to see why my Cere-Cere is so respectful of you - - was so respectful." He sighed and it was a heavy, defeated sound.  
  
"Why can't it be Ailwoode?" They all looked to Juno, surprised by her question and by the remorseless tone of her voice. Even Vesta was startled. "He did this to her," she continued, not backing down. "Why make an innocent make a sacrifice like this? Why not make him pay to bring her back?"  
  
"I will not commit murder," Gallan said firmly, but without malice, "not even to bring my Cere-Cere back to me."  
  
"But you're willing to commit suicide?" Juno persisted.  
  
He turned to her and smiled. "It's my life to give. I could never presume to expend another life, but mine is my own to do with as I choose." A lump formed in his throat. "And a life without the light of my Cere-Cere is a dark and hollow place. I would not be sacrificing much."  
  
"But what kind of life would you be bringing her back to," Sailor Moon posed, touching his shoulder, "if you weren't in it? Would she be any happier than you are now?"  
  
"You are quite wise for someone so young," Gallan smiled. Though his boyish looks made everyone think Gallan was their age, now they all wondered just how old the tree spirit was. "But you must learn when the fight is lost. I must do this, for there is no other way. I must do this, for the love I feel for her demands it. But what you said has touched me."  
  
Gallan pressed his hands together. The senshi could see light beginning to peek between the cracks of his fingers. As he spread his hands apart, a brilliant light burst forth, then dissipated quickly. In the palm of the hand he held out to Sailor Moon, he held a seed.  
  
"Give this to my Cere-Cere when she awakens," Gallan requested. "Have her plant it and nurture it, so part of me may live on and once more know her love and kindness. Do this for me, Sailor Moon."  
  
"All right," Sailor Moon said helplessly. She took the seed from Gallan and cradled it in her hands. Saturn held her by the arms when she noticed the young princess was on the verge of tears.  
  
Suddenly Palla-Palla ran up and grasped Gallan by his forearm. The spirit turned and looked down at her.  
  
"Please Mr. Gallan-sir," the girl pleaded, "Palla-Palla doesn't want you to go away! If you go, Cere-Cere's going to be very sad! And-and Palla-Palla wanted to be your friend, too! Let Palla-Palla be the one to do it!"  
  
Gallan knelt down to her, smiling warmly. Vesta swooped in and snatched her back, but Gallan kept his position.  
  
"Cere-Cere is blessed to have one such as you," he whispered. "How could I deprive someone I love so of someone who loves her as much as I? You may consider us friends, Palla-Palla. And I am grateful that you love your sister enough to offer such a valuable gift." Gallan stood and shifted his gaze to the wary Vesta. "Guard her well. She is a precious jewel." Vesta, struggling not to cry, nodded.  
  
Gallan turned, knelt down and scooped Cere-Cere's body up in his arms. He turned to the senshi with a kind look on his face.  
  
"Fare well," he smiled, "and please console my love should she grieve for me."  
  
Before he could go, Gallan felt a soft hand touch his arm. He turned and found Palla-Palla, her wide, tear-stained eyes looking up at him.  
  
"Thank you," she said meekly. Gallan's eyes misted over, but his mouth curled into a grateful smile.  
  
"And thank you," he replied. "I will always remember that it was you who was also willing to offer her life for my beloved - - for as long as I have memory."  
  
The spirit turned and walked to the tree that held Cere-Cere's spirit. When they got near enough, the two entities became immaterial and passed into the trunk of the tree.  
  
A pregnant silence was punctuated by a loud sniffle.  
  
"Usa," Saturn appealed.  
  
"I should have been able to do something," she whimpered, staring at the seed in her hands. "I-I'm Sailor Moon. I should have been able to do something!"  
  
"You can only do so much, Usa," Saturn told her.  
  
"Mama could have done something," Sailor Moon cried.  
  
"Maybe not," Vesta offered, showing a gentle side that she usually kept hidden. Sailor Moon looked at her and Vesta directed her gaze up to the palace balcony overhead. There Queen Serenity was crying and being consoled by King Endymion and Rei.  
  
"Learning that some things must be left to higher powers is a bitter lesson, My Lady," Diana offered. "Her Majesty refuses to accept it to this day. But it's a truth that must be accepted. It doesn't mean you can't try. You simply mustn't blame yourself if you fail."  
  
"None of us wanted to see Gallan do what he did," Juno said. "I want Cere-Cere back, but I don't want it to be at the expense of Gallan. But if life's taught me anything, it's that we don't always get our way in life and sometimes we have to accept rotten choices. You did all you could, Princess. If it wasn't for you and Saturn, there wouldn't have been a physical body for Gallan to put her spirit in. Thank you."  
  
While Sailor Moon nodded - - and sniffled - - Vesta noticed Palla-Palla staring at the tree that held Gallan and Cere-Cere. Curious, she went over to her sister.  
  
"What's up?" Vesta asked. "You hear something?"  
  
"Palla-Palla heard something in her head," Palla-Palla responded distantly.  
  
"Was it Gallan? Cere-Cere?"  
  
"No, it was somebody else. But she didn't hear all of it and didn't understand what she did hear. The words weren't Japanese."  
  
"You think it might be something bad?"  
  
"Palla-Palla isn't sure."  
  
Vesta stared at the tree. It seemed like a normal tree and after a time she started to look away. But as she did, it seemed no longer normal.  
  
"Hey," Vesta said, mesmerized as the tree began to shimmer with a building light. "Is that supposed to happen?"  
  
The others turned and saw the light from the tree building in intensity. Vesta reached out for Palla-Palla and pulled the girl protectively behind her. Juno, Saturn, Diana and Sailor Moon all watched the light build until the intensity was so bright that they had to look away or be blinded. When they noticed the glare on the ground die away, the senshi dared to look back up. Each one felt her eyes bulge in amazement.

* * *

"Got a date with your young man tonight?" Michiru asked. She and Hotaru were walking down the corridor to Ami's office. Actually she was limping and Hotaru was there in case she fell. Her legs were improving - - not enough for the driven, perfectionist Michiru Kaioh, but they were improving. And it gave her more time to spend with Hotaru.  
  
"Not tonight," Hotaru said. She was headed to Ami's office to help out. To prevent Hotaru from overdoing it at the office, Ami had set up a shift of hours for the girl and demanded she adhere to it. Hotaru only agreed when Ami agreed to do the same. "We've got a date for Thursday - - if that's all right. Usa and I were planning on going out on the promenade tonight."  
  
"In this weather?"  
  
"It's climate controlled," Hotaru countered. "Besides, it's only October."  
  
"Oh. And here I thought you two bought out all the shops last week," needled Michiru.  
  
"They restocked," smirked Hotaru.  
  
"She's buying?" Michiru asked.  
  
"Like I could stop her."  
  
"It's good to see you two back together again."  
  
"Well, I learned that you have to maintain a friendship," Hotaru shrugged, "especially the important ones. You just can't take them for granted or they may shrivel up and go away."  
  
"I doubt the connection you two have would have ever shriveled up," Michiru replied, grimacing from a jab in her knee. "But it is nice not to ignore good friends." She grew sober. "You don't realize how valuable some of them are until they're gone."  
  
"Yeah," sighed Hotaru. "I think maybe that's a little like what Cere-Cere's going through."  
  
The pair arrived at Ami's office. Upon entering, they both gasped in alarm.  
  
"Haruka!" Michiru cried, hobbling over to the exam table Haruka was lying on. Hotaru's gaze locked on the medical telemetry information above her. "What happened?"  
  
"Pulled a hamstring training for the hundred meter dash," the blonde grimaced. "It's no big deal."  
  
"Unless you ignore my advice and start training again too soon," clucked Ami.  
  
"I've pulled hammy's before. I know the drill." Then Haruka pointed directly at Michiru. "And I don't want to hear ONE WORD about my 'advancing age'!"  
  
"I was thinking more along the lines of several dozen," Michiru replied cooly, her eyebrow cocked with menace. Hotaru covered her mouth to conceal her giggles.

* * *

Waving to Makoto as she departed the rink, Ves-Ves wiped her neck with a towel and headed for the locker room. It had been a grueling workout, but she wouldn't have it any other way. It had only been six weeks and already she was showing signs of approaching the ability Makoto possessed. And as fast as her skill level was growing, her love for this was growing twice as fast. Ves-Ves had always assumed that ice-skating was some little sissy girly sport. Who knew it took such physical stamina and mental precision in unison. It was just like karate. Some of the moves were even similar.  
  
If only Sensei Makoto-sama didn't insist she wear this frilly, girly little costume when they skated. That's why she hadn't told her sisters about her skating lessons. If they came down to the rink and saw the way she was dressed, they'd laugh.  
  
Then she'd have to kill them.  
  
Donning jeans, a flannel shirt and a lined jacket, Ves-Ves left the locker room and headed outside into the cold October afternoon.  
  
Cere-Cere knelt down before Gallan's tree. Her melancholy was tangible. She reached out with her hand and touched the bark along the root. The cold October wind blew against her, ripping the warmth from her body as it rustled through the bare limbs of the tree. There were no tears. She was finally cried out.  
  
"Aren't you cold?" Ves-Ves asked, approaching her from behind. The girl held a lined jacket in her hand for her sister.  
  
"I miss him so," Cere-Cere whispered and Ves-Ves could hear the longing in the girl's voice. "I don't know what I'm going to do."  
  
Ves-Ves draped the jacket over her sister's shoulders.  
  
"The only thing you can do," Ves-Ves offered. "Keep going."  
  
"It's so hard," Cere-Cere said.  
  
"Did you plant that seed yet?"  
  
"No," Cere-Cere whispered. "I want to wait until spring - - give him a chance to grow and establish himself. It's almost like that seed is our son. I want to do right by him."  
  
"Whatever," Ves-Ves mumbled.  
  
Ves-Ves glanced over her shoulder to see if anyone else was around. This was an important, private moment for Cere-Cere and she didn't want anyone intruding. When she glanced back, she found her sister lingering.  
  
"Come on," Ves-Ves said, nudging Cere-Cere's shoulder. "It's cold out here. You'll get sick."  
  
"How can I bear to go on without him?" Cere-Cere asked. "He was such a big part of my life."  
  
"Oh, for . . ." scowled Ves-Ves. "April's only six months away! Besides, you knew that tree spirits hibernate in the winter!"  
  
"That doesn't mean I have to like it!" Cere-Cere snapped petulantly. Reluctantly she got up and the pair walked to the palace.  
  
"It's better than what could have happened," Ves-Ves commented.  
  
"Yeah," Cere-Cere nodded. "To think I could have lost him forever. It's touching that he loves me so much that he was willing to sacrifice himself for me - - but I'm not sure I could have gone on living if he'd actually died. And that would have meant he'd have sacrificed everything in vain."  
  
"Yeah. Still can't believe Ailwoode jumped in at the last minute and sacrificed himself. He seemed like such a creep."  
  
"Well, I have some leftover memories from Ailwoode's last moments, when we were all in the tree. He loved his brother a lot. When Gallan turned on him for what he did, that really opened Ailwoode's eyes."  
  
"So what, you mean he was doing penance?"  
  
"In a way."  
  
"Guess I can understand that," Ves-Ves murmured.  
  
"I suppose his love for his brother became more important that his hatred of humans. He didn't want to live in a world without Gallan either. So he took Gallan's place and used his energy to revive me."  
  
"Surprised me," Ves-Ves said.  
  
"I just hope Gallan can get over it," Cere-Cere mused. "He was pretty broken up when he went into hibernation. I'm just going to have to love him all the more now," then Cere-Cere's features crumpled up, "in six months!"  
  
"Oh brother," sighed Ves-Ves.  
  
The pair entered their quarters. Instantly Palla-Palla ran up to them, waving a picture she'd drawn with her computerized crayons.  
  
"Lookee!" the girl squealed. "Lookee what Palla-Palla drew!"  
  
The picture was a crude drawing of a girl with red hair drawn in rings - - much like Cere-Cere - - kissing a crude drawing of a tree. With a smirk, Ves-Ves glanced over and saw Cere-Cere's eyes bug out.  
  
"What is that supposed to be?" Cere-Cere gasped loudly.  
  
"That's you and your boyfriend," Palla-Palla replied proudly.  
  
"Give me that!" roared Cere-Cere, snatching the picture from her sister's hands. "You - - BABY!"  
  
Instantly Palla-Palla seized Cere-Cere by the wrist. Cere-Cere looked down and saw her sister's eyes blazing.  
  
"You remember what you said?" Palla-Palla barked.  
  
Cere-Cere stared at the girl dumbfounded.  
  
"As I recall," Ves-Ves smirked slyly, "when you came back from the tree and found out that Palla-Palla was going to trade her life for yours, you said if you ever called her a baby again, she got to smack you!"  
  
The anger drained out of Cere-Cere, replaced by the warmth of that memory. She stopped trying to pull away and knelt down to her sister's level.  
  
"You're right," Cere-Cere said softly. "I'm being an ungrateful witch again. Go ahead."  
  
Palla-Palla leaned in - - and kissed her sister on the cheek.  
  
"There's your smack," she grinned with child-like innocence.  
  
A silly grin wormed its way onto Cere-Cere's mouth. She grabbed Palla-Palla around the waist and pulled her in, hugging her sister gratefully. Palla-Palla returned the hug while Ves-Ves looked on with satisfaction.  
  
THE END 


End file.
